Coach Log

"One word... plastics" from The Graduate

2011-06-05T23:01:00.001-07:00

Scott Graduated from the Idaho Virtual Academy last Thursday. Like thousands of kids across the country, it was a major milestone in his life. For elite athletes in any number of sports, completing High School presents a different set of challenges.

Scott was fortunate that internet education existed by the time he entered high school. IDVA enabled him to get a great education from a well developed and regimented curriculum while travelling all over the world. As it is, he is well positioned to enter college whenever he decides.

Graduation lifted a burden off his shoulders with regard to ski racing. The daily "grind" for a ski racer includes early wake-ups, hours of on-snow training, then a break, then dry land (strength) training, followed by another break, then a team meeting in the early evening, followed by time off until bedtime. The athletes must work dinner and ski tuning into the open periods of time. Schoolwork becomes fragmented and is squeezed in wherever possible. Last year Scott was the only athlete in his group still in high school -- it will be nice to have a lighter schedule this year.

Scott has a lot of work to do with the "D" team this year, so he'll mostly focus on skiing. He'll probably take some German courses, both to improve his language skills and whittle away at elective credits. He wants to take college calculus to preserve his math skills, but it seems that might be a bridge too far given his training schedule. He'll reassess next year.

2011-12 Begins

2011-05-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Scott left for Park City yesterday. He is going through two days of physical assessments as I write this entry. I watched him with mixed emotions as he packed to leave. He's well prepared and looking forward to the challenge.

He spent his 2 1/2 weeks here working out at the gym and working at the property he maintains during the summer. His daily workouts were very intense with a focus on explosive strength. In addition to gym time he spent an hour a day on the bike, plus jumped rope. It will be interesting to see how he does on the explosive portion of the assessment.

We also took a day at Schweitzer Mountain for ski testing. The mountain is closed, but its still winter up there. We used the snowcat to groom an entire run, and had two snowmobiles to tow Scott back up to the start. We tested all of his speed skis to ensure he's using the fastest sets on race day, then we tested a variety of waxes and fluorocarbons for the wax company. Every test run was done at least two times for redundancy, so Scott got lots of miles in a 60+ MPH tuck. It was a sunny day and we all had a great time. You can see the video on Facebook at Selkirk Powder Company.

After two days at Park City, Scott heads to Mount Bachelor, OR for 10 days of training. This will be Super G and Giant Slalom training on slopes specially prepared with rollers every 24 meters or so. He really enjoyed this camp last year. He's also looking forward to being with the new group of guys, many of which are his age and have been his friends for years.

It's a wrap...

2011-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

After waiting a few days to decompress, I'm ready to close out the 2010-11 blog season. This has been an interesting year in many regards.

Scott learned alot about people this year -- I'm not sure the lessons learned on the US Ski Team are significantly different than those learned in the workplace. He met good people, bad people, hard working people, lazy people, creative people, people with no imagination, egotistical people, open minded people, qualified and unqualified people, sage mentors and immature people. Perhaps the intensity of the environment and the pressure to meet personal goals turn up the heat, but the ingredients in the cake are all the same. Scott survived, but not without a few scars. In the long run, he'll be better prepared next year.

Scott stayed strong and injury free, which is an accomplishment in this business. He didn't just ride the benefits of the many years he's spent in the gym working out. He carried weights and slant boards on the road and worked out on his own every night. I believe he broke the mold and finished the season stronger than he started. He added 10 lbs of muscle to his frame and is now back in the gym for several hours a day looking for more.

After a difficult start his skiing has changed for the better. He worked hard on a concept his coaches presented early last year. He seemed to be getting it, but his timing was off which messed up his line at the gates. He had what a baseball batter would call a slump for much of the year, and couldn't put together two good runs in a row. His confidence suffered, further exascerbating the problem. However, towards the end of the season things started coming together and he became consistent again. He still needs to fine tune the timing, but the essential elements are in place. Most importantly, he is confident in his skiing and ready to get back to work.

Scott developed mental strength this year on several fronts. He endured adversity within the team, yet stayed focused on the task at hand. I won't say that was a complete success, as he's still fighting the morale battle right now, but he's getting a handle on things. He also had his first, bonafide, downhill scare in February. It took a while for him to acknowledge it, then it took a while to get over it. However, as evidenced by his performance at the final speed series, he seems to be back in form. Scott's ability to narrow his focus and manage his arousal levels at the start line continued to improve. Not that this was ever a problem area, but he experimented with new methods for different situations and learned alot.

Although Scott didn't achieve many of the performance and outcome goals he set for himself, he still skied well enough to requalify for the US Ski Team next year. In fact, he was one of only three Juniors (Age 15-19) to meet USST objective criteria for selection. This takes alot of pressure off the first training camp in May, which will double as a tryout for the other 15 men attending. Scott feels poised for a huge season next winter and plans to eclipse the goals he set for himself this year. I truly believe he can.

On a personal note this has been a great season. Aside from spending another year with my son, my limited role on the hill and on the tuning bench allowed me to invite Joy along for several trips. She joined us at Lake Louise, BC, in Austria and Italy, at Whistler BC, in Wenatchee, Wa and Bend, OR. Those times with her took the sting out of 200 days on the road.

We also had some real quality time with family. Scott's older brother Jonathan came to Europe for a week and travelled with me through Austria and Germany. He later joined us at Winter Park, CO for the US Alpine Championships. Scott's older sister Adrienne flew to Mount Bachelor, OR for the final speed series and for the first time watched her brother race. My nephew Eric and his family drove up to Winter Park for three days to cheer Scott on. And finally, my sister plus my niece Denise and her family rented a house with us in Whistler for the week. We had great hikes, snowball fights and times on the slopes, where I had the pleasure of teaching their children, Ryan and Lauren, how to ski. My only regret was not getting an opportunity to explore the mountain with Denise's husband, Mark. Denise is also the person who designed this great web site and keeps it up to date; thanks so much.

The financial burden of ski racing is huge, and we received so much help from friends and family. Thanks to you all. In addition to direct financial support, we enjoyed the benefits of cost cutting, a home environment and friendship by staying at the homes of JJ and Laura Johns, Kent and Heather Christian, Karin and Tod Wehse, Jack and Melanie Kern, and Katie and Matt Dolan.

It's been a good year, but my final one on the road with Scott. He will turn 18 years old this summer and doesn't need me around any more. I'll return to coaching younger kids on our race team and maybe bring a few more up to the US team. I'll keep posting this blog based upon reports from Scott and my experiences coaching younger athletes. I suspect there's fertile ground in comparing what we do at the lower levels of racing with the National level.

Final Speed Fix

2011-04-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

Scott ended the season on a perfect note -- speed! We
dashed straight to Mount Bachelor, Oregon after the Tech series for six days of speed including two Super G's and two Downhills. The Super G's were run on soft snow with gusty winds and rain -- sort of miserable. Fortunately the temps plummeted and the sun came out for the downhills, yielding rock hard snow and a safe, consistent, track.

Have I mentioned Scott loves downhill? He had blast on this fun track. Due to the ideal conditions the race started from inside the volcanic crater, through the notch, and down a track with plenty of bumps and turns. Scott knows this hill well, having raced it since he was 10 years old. The combo of fast skis and experience, plus the "homeboy" advantage allowed him to sweep the training run and both downhills.

Scott didn't have to come to this race, but he wanted to help with the penalty for the younger athletes. It's been a long season and logic argued for a rest before heading back into training in a few weeks, but I acquiesced given how much we used to hate it when seed racers didn't show-up at speed events. It all worked out well since the daily schedule allowed plenty of down time.

So we're now home at long last. Scott is catching up on school and back in the gym for a few hours per day. He also has some "close-out" maintenance to pull on his speed skis. I'm already engaged in repairing stuff that broke around here over the winter. Scott heads to Park City on May 8th for physical assessments followed by 10 days of Super G and Giant Slalom training in Oregon. It never ends!

Spring Series

2011-04-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

After dashing across country from Colorado in two days we signed into the Western Region Spring Series at Mission Ridge, WA. We always enjoy Mission Ridge, both because of the great races they host and the fact that our good friends the Dolans live there. They hosted us in their new home (which he built) and we got to meet their new baby boy. The regional Spring Series is also fun because all of our friends (coaches and athletes) whom Scott "came up" with are present.

The points were good at the races, with about ten USST athletes plus top NCAA and FIS racers from across the country in the field. Scott came hoping to lower his tech points and did get a few minor scores. Although things didn't work out exactly how he wished, the series was none the less a success. Scott has been under significant stress recently and had lots of things to sort out, including a decision about what to do next year. He also wanted to improve his finish ratio, while working on his line and technique. The combination of all these things stood in the way of resounding scores.

Scott struggled with his line for the first half of this season. A variety of factors, including his focus on strengthening the top of the turn, messed up his timing. In a sort of Catch 22, the wrong line takes away the opportunity to properly develop a turn, and working on properly developing the turn messed up his line. Anyway, last week he showed some real consistency in both regards. He skied great most of the time, but seemed to have a bauble in each run... just enough to preclude a score. He left Mission Ridge feeling good about his skiing and looking forward to summer training.

Top of the World

2011-04-06T21:12:00.001-07:00

Scott raced at Breckenridge immediately after Alpine Champs. The course started at 11.500 feet of elevation and someone said it was the highest Giant Slalom start in the world. Regardless, it was high enough. Standing at the scoreboard one could hear the heaving chests of the athletes as they finished and came to see their result. Those of you who have been following this blog know that it's been a hard year. Nearly every opportunity for bad luck has manifested, sometimes on its own and sometimes with a little help from Scott. There have been some great runs, followed by a mishap, and there have been days with nothing but mishaps. After a while it becomes difficult to keep going, to bring expectations back where they belong for success. Scott came to Breckenridge hoping to "kick start" the final part of the season. Things had been improving, in that he'd finished most of the recent tech races and felt better on his skis. It was time to get going. He skied well in the two Giant Slaloms. Each race had one run with an error. Both errors happened just above the flat section, thus having the greatest impact. Notwithstanding, he did finish well and score some FIS points. He feels good about his skiing and is looking forward to the Western Region Spring Series, beginning this week in Washington. The points will be good there and he should finally get reasonable start numbers. All we need is a good race surface. Hopefully he can end the season on a strong note and set himself up for good start positions next year. We're at home tonight, making a cameo appearance to do laundry and cross-load gear for the final two weeks. It was a tough commute. Last night we drove until midnight to make Salt Lake City. Today we logged another 11 hours and we hit the road at 9AM tomorrow. Sure do love this stuff!

Family Time

2011-04-06T20:47:00.001-07:00

The US Alpine Championships were hosted by Winter Park, CO this year. Many of the athletes' families came to this event, which included banquets and socials in addition to competition. This was also the first time the entire US Alpine Team convened at the same race since December, making for a reunion type atmosphere. In addition to the US Team, numerous Division I NCAA atheletes plus a host of invitees from across the country competed, bringing the field to over 100 athletes in each gender. Despite all the fun and good will, this was intense competition for bragging rights.

Scott wasn't looking to make any noise in the tech events given his start numbers, but hoped for a good Super G result. He had a great run going until four gates from the finish where he was spit out of the course by a rut. Disappointing... The following day's Slalom he got a little salve for the wound moving from 66th start position to 2oth place in in a deeply rutted course.

We had lots of family come share the weekend. Scott's brother Jonathan (dressed in the retro Descent suit above) came to embarrass Scott with the help from some friends. Also, his cousin Eric came with the entire family. Scott invested some hours on the magic carpet and green slopes teaching his little cousins to ski. All in all it was a great trip.

Powder!

2011-03-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

The best of times, the worst of times. We awoke to 8 or 9 inches of snow in the valley today, and mo0re than a foot on the mountain. Fortunately, the race committee abandoned the effort at 8:30AM and the races were cancelled. Although I admire the drive and hard work race committees and staff invest in "saving" events, sometimes its just futile. On those days its very frustrating to be slipping perfectly good powder down a race slope all day while listening to the customers hoot and howl in the trees.

So this morning was spent skiing some pretty nice powder. The Utah kids told Scott they wouldn't even bother going to the mountain for powder this heavy, but for us Northwest guys this was champagne!

As nice as the skiing was, Scott's pretty disappointed to have lost a Super G start. We're hoping tomorrow pans out, but there's another six inches forecast. Keep ya posted...

Not exactly roughing it...

2011-03-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Another day at Beaver Creek, another freshly baked cookie. This is the playground for the rich and pampered. In addition to having great race venues, it features fresh chocolate chip cookies served in the lift line, hot chocolate (with whipped cream) served in little cups at the top of the lift, and even escalators.

I remember the first time we came here in 1998 for NASTAR Nationals. Scott and Bonnie, who were then 7 and 10, lived up to the North Idaho reputation by riding the escalators repeatedly. The only caveate placed on them was not to grab a cookie each cycle.

As I think about it, I need to talk to Schweitzer's GM, Tom Chasse, about installing an escalator from parking and serving warm cookies... I wonder how that would fly?

Scott skied well today. No score, but two more solid runs, each better than the one before. He did well bringing the pressure to the top of the turn, but his line was a bit too round. That comes with timing, and he just hasn't had the slalom practice recently to refine it. I think his confidence is good right now though and he'll do fine in the slalom part of the Combined.

Tomorrow he races Super G at Breckenridge where they got 6" of snow today and are predicting more tomorrow. I'm hoping the forecast is wrong. Regardless, Scott starts 19th so the course should still be fine.

Good training...

2011-03-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you following this blog, you might have thought today was a race day. It was, sort of... Scott was only permitted to free ski this week, instead of the program proposed by the docs at Park City. Therefore, he never got into the slalom gates with the other guys. Yesterday he worked pretty hard at slalom skiing and ran "virtual" courses in his mind's eye. As a consequence, his race today was the first time through slalom gates since March 6th. He was a little rusty.

He had a better start number than normal, 44, and the snow was decent. The field was a strong one with USST A,B, C and D team members present, plus a host of NCAA Div I guys. Scott skied two solid runs. His timing was a little off and he was pressuring below the gate on the pitch, but it was OK for his first time in Slalom gates for 20 days. He also took advantage of the warm-up gates all day, so this was a good training event. He has another Slalom here at Beaver Creek tomorrow, then it's off to Breckenridge for Super G and Combined. The weather has been cooperating so it looks like a few good races ahead.

For my part, it was a great day. I skied with our great friends, Kent and Heather, who instruct here at Beaver Creek. The inside scoop was that Birds of Prey was groomed last night. Kent and I caught an early chair and were the first ones there. It was covered with 4-6" of fresh snow -- sublime! We capped that off with another 25,000 feet of vertical over the day, in addition to watching Scott's races, eating lunch and having a beer. A great time was had by all!

Cleared

2011-03-21T22:52:00.000-07:00

The decision to go to the Center of Excellence proved worthwhile. Scott took another IMPACT test this morning. Afterwards the three sports physios had him bike 30 minutes, do agility ladders and lift some weights. After reviewing his test and observing his workout they have cleared him to start skiing again.

He will begin by free skiing tomorrow, which was to be a day off anyway. Wednesday he can run gates, but must do the courses in sections. Thursday he can train full length courses. The coaches and physios will monitor him through all of this. It sounds like a reasonable plan.

So Scott is elated and relieved. He was very concerned about missing any more races. We are now in Dillon, CO. The next races will be this weekend at Beaver Creek, CO

Still on hold...

2011-03-20T17:14:00.001-07:00

Scott spun on the bike with the sports physiologist Friday, then was examined by the on-site team physician. He was cleared to race and came over to visit our condo with a huge smile on his face. Unfortunately he got a call about an hour later telling him that the docs back at Park City had decided against it. A real let down...

After some consideration and discussions with the physio, Scott decided to depart early and head to Park City. The plan at Whistler would not have included any racing, just rest, light exercise, and "maybe" a little skiing the final day. Not to say there was anything wrong with the plan, but from Scott's perspective he was concerned it wasn't moving towards anything definitive. He's pretty worried about missing any more of the races remaining in the season. So instead we packed out early and drove to Park City, where we are tonight. The plan is for Scott to spin the bike a little, get a really good night's sleep, then retest tomorrow morning. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Frustration

2011-03-18T16:11:00.001-07:00

After sitting out one day, Scott retested and they decided to have him sit out another day. He passed all of the mental acuity portions of the IMPACT test again, but his reaction time remained slow relative to his baseline tests.

Scott's very depressed and frustrated -- sitting around all day with no physical or mental activity is not his normal state. It's also disappointing to miss these important races. He's now very worried that he'll also miss the Super Combined and Super Gs.

The Doctors, and the review team at the IMPACT center, are unable to say that he had a concussion. His tests do not so indicate, plus he was never unconscious and never suffered mental confusion. However, the reaction time thing is causing them to be cautious. From Scott's perspective, he feels great and ready to go. I can only imagine how hard this was for some of the guys that had to sit out a year, or more. I recall Scott McCartney, a USST athlete who suffered a severe head injury a couple of years ago, blogging about feeling great three months after the accident, yet not being allowed to exercise or do any physical activity. Killer....

Tonight they're having Scott spin on a bike for 30 minutes, then retake the test to see how he reacts. It all sounds pretty open ended and we're inclined to cut our loses, save some money, and drive out of here tomorrow. His next race after this series is Mar 26th in Colorado. We'll see what the verdict is. It would be nice if he was cleared to race tomorrow.

Impact!

2011-03-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

It started out well... Yesterday Scott started teh Giant Slalom bib number 73 in soft conditions at the NORAM Cup Finals here in Whistler, BC. Although the likelihood of scoring in this situation was low, he went out with a smile to take it on. He had a very good first run, moving up to 24th and in position for a major result. He started 7th the second run and was skiing well when it all came undone. On the final pitch his outside ski got stuck in soft snow and he straddled the next gate at full velocity. The gate shattered and Scott spun, snapping backward to the ground. I was there were it happened and after he slid some 200+feet he sat for awhile before getting up. This was out of character since he normally leaps back to his feet so others won't worry.

When he skied down to me I could see something was "off," although he tried to act normal. I decided to keep an eye on him all the way back to his hotel, then had him come spend the afternoon awake with us in a quiet room downstairs.

That evening the Team doctor examined Scott and administered an IMPACT test (explained below). The outcome was that Scott's mental faculties were fine, but his reaction time was .007 seconds slower than his norm. After consultation between the doc, the trainer and Scott, it was decided he should sit out a day, especially since today was to be slalom. I was very pleased with how the Team handled this, and the decision. Scott's taking it seriously and understands the importance.

The IMPACT test was adopted by the US Ski Team several years ago. In fact, it was one of the first major sports federations to fully commit to the program. Scott took his first IMPACT test three years ago when he went to the Trofeo Topolino with the Team. Since that time nearly every college athletic program, and many school districts, have also signed up. Last year our division, the Pacific Northwest Ski Association, bought into the program for all of its athletes.

The IMPACT test is computer driven and takes 20-30 minutes to administer. It measures cognitive, retentive and reaction abilities using a variety of interactive programs. The test is mentally demanding (at least for me) and must be administered in an environment without noise or distractions. Here's how the program works:
-- Athletes 11 and older take the test and form a baseline.
-- Athletes age 11-19 should retest at least every two years due to how rapidly the brain changes during this period.
-- If an injury occurs, the athlete takes another IMPACT test and the results are compared to the baseline. Doctors are able to determine the extent of the injury, what parts of the brain are injured and estimate approximate recovery times. Of course, recovery times differ greatly between individuals, so subsequent tests are administered to monitor progress.

Scott's "chillin" right now and looking forward to tomorrow's slalom races. Guess I'm "chillin" too.

Goals

2011-03-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

I just received an e-mail from USSA the topic of which was "Time to Update Goals." A timely reminder for an important element of athletic success. Oh, the picture... This symbolizes that I'm home for a week with time to reflect on things such as goals.

Lou Holtz says, "You must have dreams and goals if you are ever going to achieve anything in this world." And Michael Jordan, a man of significant athletic achievement, says, "I'm a firm believer in goal setting. Step by step. I can't see any other way of accomplishing anything." The US Ski and Snowboard Association invests considerable time and energy in educating coaches through clinics and literature about the goals process and how to integrate it into everything we do. I'm a strong advocate, having used the process while a military leader as well.

There are two cartegories of goals, Outcome and Performance. When the layman considers the subject, Outcome goals come to mind, for example: I want to be a big league ball player; or, I want to win an Olympic Gold medal. Outcome goals serve a purpose and give general direction, but the meat and potatoes of the process is in the Performance goals. These are the baby steps, the many small skills, that contribute to success and have to be mastered to achieve the lofty outcome goals.

I've used goals on our ski team since it's beginning. We start the process with the J6s, although the goals may be as simple as, finish in the top ten at half of my races; or, be able to ski every slope on Schweitzer in powder. However, by the time an athlete is Scott's age, the goals may be 2-3 typed pages long. A funny story. Although Scott and I had played catch daily in the summers, and he went to a 3 day baseball camp here in town every June, he'd never played organized baseball. At age 11 I told him he had to give me one season, just so he wouldn't embarrasse himself at the company picnic as an adult. He had a great coach and the first day he came home exclaiming that he loved baseball. He sat at the kitchen table and said, "I need to set some goals." His outcome goals were to bat 4th, play shortstop and make all stars. He then broke down the performance goals that would lead him there. We practiced hard every day that summer and he achieved all of his goals. He applied the skills he'd learned as a ski racer to achieve in another completely different sport. I can not overstate the importance of goals.

I couldn't do my job as a coach without goal setting. How could I coach with no idea what my athlete was trying to accomplish? Goals give me a chance to understand my athlete, see the world through his or her eyes. They also give me a chance to render a reality check and ensure goals are practical. Perhaps at age 11 the Outcome goal should be to nail down a starting position on the home team and be selected for all stars. Let's save the big leagues for later. Goals should be clear, measurable, challenging and attainable. Goals that are off-the-charts difficult are counter productive and discourage, rather than focus and encourage, the athlete.

Once a good set of Outcome goals is agreed upon, we get to the heart of the issue. For each Outcome goal we identify the key ingrediants and break them into definable parts. We jointly assess where the athlete stands on these and what improvement is needed. Then we write each of these as a separate Performance goal. I like to categorize goals as Technical/Tactical, Mental, Physical and Equipment. The Technical/Tactical category is further divided into Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

I like to formally review goals three times per season, as follows: After Christmas break, which is the end of the intensive fall training and initial competition period. Early March, which is between the heart of the season and what I call the "Championship grind" of 15-20 races. And at the end of the season so we don't forget what has been acheived and what's left on the plate for next year.

We treat the goals as a living document. During the reviews we type comments in italics after each goal, noting progress or achievement. If the younger athletes achieve a goal there's normally a new one which can be added in it's place. I try to be careful not to start out with so many goals that they become oppressive.

Goals form a contract between the athlete, coach and parents. They are the roadmap to success. They are also a buffer when one falls short. Scott will not achieve half of his outcome goals this season -- its been a hard year for a variety of reasons. But he can look at his goals sheet and see the many places he has succeeded. WIth that knowledge he can start forming next year's plan.

Freelancing

2011-03-02T15:24:00.000-08:00

We spent last week at Red Mountain, BC apart from the rest of the US Team. Scott had a break and he had not done any races other than those prescribed by his coaches. His understanding had been that he could only race those events scheduled by the USST. Over Christmas, after he noted his teamates racing in regular FIS races and scoring, Scott scoured the FIS schedule for good tech opportunities. It was already too late to schedule anything in January or early February. This series at Red Mountain was the only good fit.

The race originally promised to have a good points profile. However two weeks before the event a number of top athletes pulled from the event due to a conflicting Canadian training camp. Fair, understandable, disappointing. So suddenly we were left with a seed including a few 20 point racers and Scott. If any athlete in the seed failed to finish (which some did each day), the points handicap grew exponentially. And so it was.

Notwithstanding it was a very valuable weekend for Scott. He completed all eight runs, skied very well, and restored his confidence in his technical skiing. He experimented with softer boots in Giant Slalom (and liked it), and closely monitored his edge sharpness relative to effectiveness (an issue this year). It was nice not to have a start bib in the 70's or 80s. Scott skied right with the 20 point racers, lowered his FIS profile by a few points and had a great time with all of his Canadian friends. As a bonus, his good buddies from our sister team at Schweitzer were in the same hotel. Good times!

The Board

2011-02-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

It's a slow news day so I thought it would be good to explain some of the admin stuff surrounding FIS ski races.

The day before each race the organizers host a "Team Captain's Meeting." The meeting is mandatory and all athletes must be represented. Amongst other things, the meeting is used to verify who will and will not compete and discuss things such as the daily schedule, the medical plan, referee assignments, course setter assignments, safety issues, the time and location for awards and the start order.

The photo above was taken today and is the "Board" for tomorrow's races at Red Mountain, BC. Each athlete's name, nationality and FIS points is placed on a card which is placed on the Board in descending point order. As discussed in an earlier blog, ski racers start in point/world ranking order.

The top ranked 15 racers are known as "The Seed." These athletes are randomly given start positions somewhere between 1 and 15 using an arcane methodology involving numbered ping pong balls. Hey, it's part of the process and it is fair. Once these athletes are ordered and the participants confirmed, the referee does the "Bib Toss." Each bib is literally thrown into the crowd in the general direction of the athlete's respective coach.

Life on the road revolves around the daily Captain's Meeting. Coaches get all the bibs and information, then in turn meet with their athletes to pass it on and tailor their own team schedule. Athletes get accustomed to not knowing exactly what will happen tomorrow until 6-7PM the evening before.

The Captain's meeting is also a place where the coaches cajole each other, have a little fun and get a brief chance to socialize together. It's generally a good time.

Jiggetty jog...

2011-02-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

Home again, home again... actually, home for the first time in eight weeks and it feels great. Suitcases are overrated!

We left Aspen immediately after the final Super G (Scott was skiing great before bouncing out of the course) and headed West. We drove late in order to reach Salt Lake City where Scott caught a flight to Lake Tahoe to visit his girlfriend.

The original plan was for him to train tech there for three days with Sugar Bowl Academy while visiting, however they just received six feet of snow. I immediately started developing a plan "B" at Jackson Hole since he has only skied two days of tech since Jan 25th. I was concerned about his preparation for four tech races in Canada next week. What was I thinking? Upon reflection I realized he hasn't had any days off since January. It's so easy to forget rest. Better he just free skis and relaxes for a few days and we'll take whatever comes in Canada.

This has been a hard eight weeks for all of us. Travel, hotels, stress, water drainage issues at home. It's nice to be here with Joy and just relax for a few days. That also means no blogs until Canada!

Out of his mind

2011-02-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Ooops, it wasn't over after all. Scott skied a disappointing National Championship Downhill on Wednesday. In fact, people he routinely beats by a second finished ahead of him. He was devastated and surely didn't need any abuse from me. But I worried that perhaps he really wasn't over his doubts of the day before. I'm sure it was a long night of reflection for him.

This morning he told me he'd lost confidence in his skiing and couldn't shake that feeling off. With only about two minutes for us to talk before going our separate ways, I did the drill sergeant routine. I explained that there isn't room for those negative thoughts if he intends to make a career of skiing and that he might as well buck-up right away and take charge of his emotions.

I won't take any credit for it, because whatever he accomplishes comes from himself. However, Scott had his best result ever today, scoring a 29 in Super G on a soft and rutted course. I'm proud that he faced his doubts and overcame them. Naturally, he's on cloud nine tonight. Hopefully he's slayed this dragon. He has a final Super G tomorrow in similar conditions.

Mind Games

2011-02-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

After great training runs and solid skiing, Scott was poised to put down a significant result yesterday. He was skiing well and exactly on the line he'd planned when he hit an unseen rut in the shade and got bucked hard out of the course. He recovered without crashing, but not without some fancy footwork. It was a disappointment, but I thought nothing more of it. Tomorrow's another day, right?

Scott acted pretty normal (for a 17 year old) this morning and went through his race day routine. He swung by my position as Finish Referee to say good morning and seemed excited about the race. He watched the top women to monitor how the course was running and was exactly at the point of a major crash. The top seeded woman went headlong into the "A" net at full speed. It took 20 minutes to get her off the course on a backboard. Scott swung by my location again and relayed the accident status.

He had an OK race. Probably 1.5 seconds slower than expected, but still finished 14th (third amongst Juniors), and lowered his FIS points. When he came by to visit I asked him the same question I always ask, "How was your head at the start." For the first time this year he said, "Messed up." Evidently the thought that he was going to get injured entered his mind at the start and he battled it all the way down, losing focus at one point and making a costly mistake. We talked about it for a while and it occured to me that yesterday was the first time he'd ever failed to complete a run through a downhill. That, plus witnessing the accident, must have put doubt in his mind. The good news is that he's thought that all through and put it behind him. He's really excited about the National Championship Downhill tomorrow.

Scott also made another mental error today. He was so disappointed with his run that he didn't even consider where he'd finished relative to the other Juniors. Instead he headed to his room to catch-up on schoolwork. Later he got a pointed text from his coach with a photo of the podium missing one athlete. He got a well deserved butt chewing at the evening meeting as well.

Every day is a lesson...

America's Downhill

2011-02-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

That's what it was dubbed when Aspen became the original US Downhill World Cup stop. Since then it's been supplanted by the Birds of Prey track at Beaver Creek. Rumor has it the locals are a bit upset, but that hasn't dampened their passion for big races; Aspen has been hosting NORAM and championship downhills on a regular basis.

The Aspen track is a classic, dropping 2800 feet in elevation with a mixture of glides, jumps, micro-terrain and extreme steeps. Scott loves the venue -- he took Silver and Gold here at Junior Nationals two years ago.

Scott's here for the NORAM speed week, which will include two Downhills, two Super Gs, and a Super Combined. Additionally, the US National Downhill Championship will be run on Wednesday. Scott's in heaven... back-to-back speed weeks. Downhills are like a trip to the amusement park for him. Top it off with good snow and sunshine, and it just can't be beat!

We were concerned about the surface watching the weather last week. Aspen was enjoying a powder cycle with frigid conditions. But the Aspen Valley Ski Club and mountain operations have been down this road before. The track is now solid, and speeding up each passing day. Today's training run results were on average two seconds faster than yesterday's. I suspect we'll pick up 4-5 seconds over the course of the week.

Scott's skied well each day. Yesterday he tied for 11th in the first training run, with a substantial mistake on the steepest pitch. He essentially was off line coming in and had to suffer through 4-5 gates on the low line... not the fast choice. He fixed that today and finished in fifth place, one second off the lead. He still sees another half second he can clean up, so he's hoping for a big day tomorrow. He'll have NORAM downhills Monday and Tuesday, followed by the national championship on Wednesday.

An exciting sideline for me is that about 25 athletes in this field of 100 are on Podium Wax products. The buzz is slowly growing and we are being recognized as a bonafide player. I'm tired of "glacial" growth...

I'm goin' to Jackson...

2011-02-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

We're now in Jackson, WY training with our good friends at the Jackson Hole Ski Team. You may recall we sort of based out of here last year to simply travel and create bigger training windows. I asked my friend, Mike Syrovaka, if we could swing by for a little training between Big Sky and Aspen. He and the team Director, Bridger, were very accomodating and even shifted some things around to meet our goals.

Today Scott trained Giant Slalom in the morning, then he had a five run Slalom session this afternoon. His USST coaches want him to experiment with his softer, speed, boots in GS, so he did that this morning. The vote's still out, but Scott thinks they may be onto something. He's looking forward to testing the concept on ice and also in warmer temps when the boots are even more flexible.

Slalom went very well in the afternoon. He'll get another Slalom session tomorrow after an early morning Super G session. The we'll load the car and knock off a chunk of the trip to Aspen. Instead of doing the pain in the butt morning pack out, I've paid the hotel a little extra so we can load after training. Creature comforts!

Helping out

2011-02-08T19:30:00.001-08:00

Speed... Scott likes nothing better. As a coach, I prefer speed events as well. Although the skiing is fast, the daily pace is far slower because there's only one run per day. Nice!

We spent last week at Big Sky, MT where Scott raced two Super Gs and two Downhills. It's good to be home and even better to be back in the Western Region. It's been fun seeing all the coaches and athletes we've worked with for so many years. As an added bonus, the race was near MSU so Bonnie came up for the weekend and Joy drove out from Idaho. A regular family reunion! We rented a house near the mountain and had a good time.

This race represented several things to Scott. First, there was an outside chance to score FIS points given the fact that the field included several current and former USST members. Second, this was an excellent warm-up for next week's NORAM speed week at Aspen. Finally, this was a chance to help our Region with points. If you haven't read it yet, go back to the Nov 30th blog entitled "What's the Point?" For these young racers to progress they need to face athletes with lower points than their own. Many of the racers in this field had 990 points (none) and needed Downhill results in order to qualify for championships later this season. I can remember the days when we hoped for a good points field.

The snow was great the first four days. There was a deep (-27F) freeze for two days following a week of warm weather yielding a hard, fast surface. Scott finished second and first in the two Super G's, and scored some good FIS points. He was also second and first in the two Downhill training runs on the same surface. Then the snow came. On Saturday we all slipped and worked for about seven hours to no avail. The jury correctly postponed the race for safety concerns. Sunday wasn't any better and the wind was pretty fierce. However, after a few hours of work the crew was able to get the races off. Scott finished fourth, .12 of a second off the lead after a bauble on the final flats. The organizers decided to try and get a race off Monday despite a discouraging weather forecast. Scott stayed on to help with the points and incredibly the race was completed, albeit quite late. Scott finished second in that Downhill by .09 of a second.

It was a very profitable week from the racing standpoint. Scott just switched to the doubledeck Atomic speed skis and was able to get dialed in on how they handle. He's really fired up about next week in Aspen. We'll be there seven days for two NORAM Super Gs, two NORAM Downhills and the National Championship Downhill. All we need is some hard snow. Unfortunately, Aspen just received a big powder dump. They've got a great race department though, and very supportive mountain management, so I'm sure they'll work it out.

Europe 2011

2011-01-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Scott arrived in Europe Jan 13th. He’s spent the past six days training at Paganella, Italy, near Trento. Unfortunately he has limited (almost none) internet access, so don’t be looking for blogs at his site.

Paganella is where the USST stays to train while in Europe. I don’t know all of the details, but they have a support relationship with the community and ski area which nets lodging and training at either no, or greatly reduced, cost. They have a dedicated ski trail for training, which by all reports is very steep.

Scott’s schedule changed numerous times before flying over here, and when he arrived he discovered that he will only race three Giant Slalom races during these two weeks. Although disappointed, he’s focused upon capitalizing on the good training venue while trying to enjoy Europe. He’s working hard on his German as well.

His first race of the trip was today at Kirchberg, Austria, which is in the Kitzbuehl valley. It was a Giant Slalom on a fairly steep pitch. It rained last night and intermittently today, with foggy patches coming and going during the race. Scott started 78th in a strong field. The course was pretty chopped by the time he ran, but he climbed to 51st after the first run and 38th overall after the second. He skied conservatively at times “to miss the biggest holes…”) but finished both runs without major incidents. Given how his tech races have gone thus far this year, he was most interested in having a solid finish.

Scott ran into his two Austrian friends from the 2008 Trofeo Topolino today. He’s been staying in touch with Christian Juffinger and Christian Steiner via Facebook and they were the impetus for him studying German. I hope he got to regal them with his linguistics – forgot to ask.
He returns to Paganella tonight and I’ll see him again the 24th and 25th for two more Giant Slaloms at Zell am See, Austria. In the interim I’m going to do something I’ve always wanted; I’m going to Kitzbuehl during Downhill week. It should be an amazing experience.

Giving Back

2011-01-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

Instead of flying clear across the USA after the Quebec NORAMS, we headed South to Virginia for a week of rest, recovery and repacking. Half of the time was spent at Bryce Mountain, where Scott first learned to ski at age two. It’s a great hill with only about 600 feet of vertical, but a dedicated 63 member alpine racing team. We spent four days there with two devoted to training with the local team and spending lots of time with kids and parents.

The head coach, Phil Perkins, is a long time friend of mine. He and his wife Karen head the staff and devote all of their time and energy to these kids. They had Scott and I work as guest coaches. The biggest challenge was ensuring Scott spent an equal amount of time with each group. The kids loved it and Scott got writer’s cramps signing autographs. Saturday night Scott met with the parents and athletes for a brief talk and Q&A session which lasted about 45 minutes. There were lots of good questions about everything from diet to training and ski preparation. They take their racing seriously down here.

Management also used Scott as the NASTAR pacesetter (like he did at Schweitzer in December), thus saving the mountain the expense of sending their pacesetter to trials at Round Top, Pennsylvania later this month. NASTAR at Bryce is a different bird. Instead of being open for a period of time with customers showing up whenever they wish, this mountain has always treated it like a race. An entire run is closed off, numbers are issued, lots of speed suits are worn… one guy even carried to the start line. Folks stop what they’re doing to watch the “race.” Good fun!

We ended the visit Monday morning with a private slalom training session on a slope all to ourselves. After two days resting and reorganizing in DC at my best friend's house, Scott boarded the plane to Munich on Thursday.

Val Saint Come

2011-01-05T19:05:00.001-08:00

This is an interesting region. I’ve never been here and I find both the terrain and the people fascinating. The mountains are small, but often rugged, laced with bands of vertical granite. The area is a network of small villages, connected by valleys, each with their own small shops and restaurants. It reminds me of where I grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The region has numerous small ski areas, many within 10 km of each other. Back in the 60’s the Northeast US also had bunches of small ski slopes, but they’ve since been run out of business by the conglomerates. This place is definitely a throw-back.
The people here are very Euro. I didn’t realize how acutely English is a second language up here. Everything starts in French. Many of those who speak English have difficulty with it. This has been a great dress rehearsal for me before heading to Europe next week. But so much for the window dressing.

The snow was great for competition this week. The cold temps persisted and the courses held up pretty well considering the level of competition. The slalom hill here has varying pitches and winds its way down the hill providing many interesting options to the course setters. By all reports, the slalom sets were challenging yet fair.
Scott suffered another two frustrating days of competition. He’s skiing really fast 95 percent of the time. It’s those times he either stops completely or has to hike uphill that are killing him. He’s in that spot where there’s really not much he can do but keep plugging. Unfortunately, after several frustrating weeks, it’s hard to stay upbeat and believe in oneself. Yesterday did end on a high note. Scott had a great first run going when he straddled a gate. By the time it registered and he stopped, he was left with about 30 meters to climb uphill. He finished 8 seconds behind the leaders, which may give a clue how well he’s skiing when pointed downhill. He was the last to start the second run, on a chewed course, and really threw it down the hill. He finished the second run 1.3 seconds slower than the winner, which is doubly impressive when considering their relative start orders. Scott was elated and it was the best smile I’ve seen from him in weeks.

It’s not a win or a score, but it was a much needed boost for the boy. It’s hard to keep plugging when you lose faith. Yesterday restored his faith.

Travelogue

2011-01-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

I had a slow day with nothing to do but read and hang out. I drove to both mountains to look at the tracks, got some food, unpacked skis, etc. The temperatures dropped today and are supposed to be in the high teens tonight, so there should be a good race surface this week.

Travelling across the northern plains is an interesting experience, no matter what the weather. The people are amongst the friendliest I’ve met. Once I left North Dakota, I was off interstates and on secondary roads, so got to see lots of small towns and enjoy home cooking at a few “Mom and Pop’s.” All good.

I’ve never driven across Wisconsin and Michigan in the dead of winter. The country’s pretty flat, but the lack of major ski hills doesn’t relegate the folks to the indoors. Snowmobiles are everywhere. People drive them to town, fuel them at the truck stops, park them outside diners. The road shoulders and ditches are so tracked they look as though a groomer came through. And in Michigan they run plastic strips across the roads where most snowmobilers cross, presumably to protect from wear on the skis. Different.

Scott arrived in Burlington at 11 last night, and the team got here around 1:30PM this afternoon. He skied a little this afternoon, which is a good thing. Tomorrow will be slalom on what looks like a good hill.

The Grind

2011-01-01T18:53:00.001-08:00

I love to drive. I just plug in a good book (four this trip), turn on the cruise control, and veg. I really enjoy seeing our country, close up, and meeting new folks wherever we go. This is my second trip across the US for ski racing and lots of folks look at me like I’m weird. Of course, I got the same looks when I drove to Alaska for US Alpine Championships two years ago… until Mount Redoubt erupted then stayed active and I had the only reliable way home.

In addition to being fun, driving saves us money and simplifies things from my perspective. For instance, this trip would have involved another plane ticket, lots of excess baggage fees, rental cars, etc. And then there’s the pleasure of dealing with the airlines and TSA. I’ll stick to driving whenever possible. Scott flew across country, which allowed him to spend more time at home. His trip to Vermont (where he linked-up with the Team) took all day and involved three flights. Fortunately he only had carry-on bags to worry about.

As you might have guessed by the title of this blog, the drive wasn’t as relaxing as I’d hoped. Watching the weather closely, I left home the afternoon before I’d planned in an attempt to beat a vicious cold front. I never quite got away from it and sort of “surfed” the leading edge. As a result I was in high winds with very limited visibility the first three days, averaging only 50 MPH. Fortunately I broke out in Michigan, then spent two days in driving rain and thick fog with temperatures in the 40’s. Anyway, I arrived in Quebec one day ahead of Scott.

From a race perspective this rain is a good thing. It appears these folks got a lot of new snow recently. With all this rain it’s settled and smooth. If it freezes we’ll have a great ice layer. If it doesn’t the snow is now ready for salt to harden it. Either way the athletes will have a good race surface. With nothing else to do tomorrow, I’ll continue this travelogue.

Home for the Holidays!

2010-12-25T21:42:00.001-08:00

It’s good to be home. Time on the road isn’t bad -- the racing is fun to watch, the food’s OK, the rooms are warm. But there’s nothing like being home with family. It’s been a while since I made a post here. Between chasing races in Canada, coming home to prepare for Christmas, and working with our ski team at Schweitzer every day, life has been rather hectic. So I’m using Christmas afternoon to catch-up on stuff.

Scott’s December race results weren’t what he’d hoped for, but he’s far from beaten. He knows he’s skiing well and the final two tech races left him encouraged. I’m actually quite impressed with his self confidence and motivation. Of course, a number of his teammates and friends continued to race after the NORAMS, at regular FIS races in Canada and Colorado, where the point opportunities were better. Several scored good FIS points, which left Scott feeling left out. He wasn’t aware that the option existed and thought time off in his schedule to be mandatory. He’s lamenting the points he might have pursued.

I, on the other hand, see these two weeks at home to be important. We’ve been on the road for 9 weeks. No matter how strong and healthy he feels, travel takes its toll… subtly. When Scott flies out Jan 1st, he’ll be on the road for another 7-8 weeks with about 20 or more race starts before getting home for a few days. So I’ve been paying attention to keeping him focused on the schedule ahead, not the missed opportunities.

The NASTAR folks asked Scott to be the pacesetter at Schweitzer this winter. By doing so he saved the mountain $1500 in travel expenses, which may very well have saved the program. He donated a few days skiing with the local pacesetters and giving them a chance to get back into the swing of things. NASTAR isn’t exactly a real race, but it’s good fun. It was also fun for Scott to paceset the same guy who was the pacesetter in Scott’s first ever time through gates when he was four years old. Kinda cool!

We’ve both been working a little with our home ski team, filling in when the group coaches aren’t available. The younger kids get really excited to have a US Team guy skiing with them, even though they’ve known him for years. Funny to watch.

Tomorrow's supposed to be a powder day. We gave Scott powder skis for Christmas, and he has a seat on one of our snowcats tomorrow. The perfect storm...

We were skiers once, and young...

2010-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Last night I was watching “We were Soldiers” for the umpteenth time. If you haven’t watched this movie, you must. It’s a classic, embracing family, leaders, and soldiers as they navigate the emotional swamp that is combat. The central thesis of the movie is that soldiers fight and die for each other, not for the patriotic words in a speech. After the movie, my thoughts drifted to all the young athletes here at the NORAM and I saw some parallels.

Each of these kids (at age 60 they’re all kids) is enormously talented and has high aspirations. They each arise in the morning with goals and hopes and through the day do everything possible to achieve them. In the course of the day they encounter barriers such as soft snow, late start numbers, difficult course sets and uber-fast competitors that stand in the way of success. They begin the day as focused individuals, they end it as brothers. I watched from a corner of the lodge as racers came in from their first run. Some looked confident and satisfied. It was immediately apparent in others that they were disappointed with their performance. But the preponderance of athletes came in uncertain. Perhaps they’d skied well but their times didn’t reflect it. Perhaps they’d skied great, but had one mistake which yielded a disappointing result. No matter what their circumstances, I watched as this group of individual athletes buoyed and sustained each other. They listened intently to each other’s descriptions of their runs . They smiled and nodded knowingly. There were lots of self-effacing “Me too’s” rendered to sooth the wounds. By the end of lunch, as they were preparing to inspect for the second run -- they were renewed warriors heading to the next battle.

So why, in an individual sport where everyone is gunning for each other, do these guys provide each other the support to survive? Why do they invest in each other’s emotional well being and encourage each other to press on? I suspect it’s the shared experience -- the feeling that they’re the only ones that really understand each other and the pressures they face in this mentally challenging sport. It’s a great thing to watch… from a distance.

Execution

2010-12-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Today's event was a Super Combined, which is a Super G plus one run of Slalom. The racers receive two official results, one being a Super G and the other being the combined times of the two runs (the Super Combined). Scott failed to execute in the Super G portion of the race finishing 38th, which became his start position for the Slalom.

The lift broke while Scott was enroute to the start and he sat for nearly 20 minutes. When he arrived at the start he was told that he had time to prepare, then heard the starter yell, "Anyone who's ready come on up and you're in." Scott saw numerous racers behind him in the start order get in line, and rather than lose his sequence and ski an even rougher course, he joined the mob. As it was he started about 10 racers late and he says that he never had a chance to get his mind in the right place before starting. That must be true since he went by me without ever tucking!

However, none of that is a valid reason for his performance. He simply didn't execute. Certainly one's mental state is key, but there will be many times when something like this happens. Scott needs to learn to adjust with these situations and develop alternative means for getting into his performance zone when things aren't perfect. There's so much to learn.

Scott did ski the slalom portion well and lower his Super Combined points. I was concerned about this since he hadn't been on Slalom skis since Nov 28th. So at least there's a positive to take from this. Racing continues tomorrow!

Course Maintenance

2010-12-12T18:57:00.001-08:00

Well, we woke up to fine powder again today -- about 4 inches, and it continued to snow all day. Fortunately the snow started late enough that the workers were able to catch-up and keep up.

Course maintenance isn't as simple as it seems. In instances such as last week at Lake Louise, once a storm has the 12 inch head start it's awfully difficult to get a race off. However even seemingly small amounts like the 4 inches today pose a challenge. The snow not only has to be pushed off the race track, but the spill zones (where a racer would end up if he/she missed or was late at a gate) must also be cleared. Suddenly the crew is faced with clearing a 100 foot wide slope, edge to edge and for thousands of feet down the hill.

To accomplish this feat everyone gets involved. Coaches and athletes join in the slip and normally the start times are delayed (45 minutes today). Once the track is slipped, the "B" netting is lifted and reset so it is back atop the snow surface. But once the track is open the job isn't done. During the race a steady flow of "slippers" travels down the course between racers, moving and smoothing the snow. Coaches and course workers stand at problem areas with shovels and rakes evacuating that snow broken loose by racers and slippers. As always, safety is the big consideration and this job has to be carefully orchestrated.

The crew did a great job today getting the race done. Although the track was softer than we'd like and became somewhat bumpy for the later runners, it was safe.

Reflections

2010-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

So this blog is being read by any number of folks and I've received positive and negative feedback both directly and indirectly. I have a little housekeeping to do, so here goes:

Yesterday I incorrectly quoted a fee a region was charging for the three races in Lake Louise based upon input from another parent. The point I was making was not about the total cost, but about the way each group of us perceives cancellations. My apologies to the region in question, as I know they make every effort to keep costs down in this very expensive sport. I have since corrected the numbers.

I was likewise guilty this past week of putting in a direct quote which may have reflected poorly on a coach. I have changed the quote and will refrain from such in the future.

This blog is generally intended to serve as a source of information for those friends and family following Scott's progress during the season. I have also used it as a tool to explain the various aspects of ski racing, such as suits, points, netting, etc. The past two weeks have been a bit emotionally challenging and I've imprudently expressed some strong opinions with a parental bias. I will temper my comments in the future.

Cancelled!!!

2010-12-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to 12 inches of beautiful powder. Ten years ago I would have hopped out of bed and been the first in the lift line. But times have changed and today I drove to the slopes before openning to check the status of the race. The decision had already been made (and it was the right one). The athletes were on the hill tearing down the netting as this was the final day of the series.

Cancelled... the word we all hate to hear. Cancelled ski races just disappear -- there just isn't room on the calendar and enough flexibility in ski area operations to reschedule them. Cancellations are a bitter pill for everyone in ski racing:
-- The athletes are always ready to go. They've been preparing for months. Each race is an opportunity. Their mental preparation is in full swing the evening prior and by race morning their focus is narrowing. Cancelations are an emotional letdown.
-- The coaches are probably the most conflicted by cancellations. They likewise go through months of preparation. They are fully invested in their athletes. They, more than anyone, have a broader view of the opportunities each race presents. However, they are also deeply protective of their athletes' welfare and watch closely to ensure the right decisions are made.
-- The Race Committee and Organizers work months preparing to host major events. 95% of the workers are volunteers who have put in the sweat equity to create a viable and safe venue. They are great people and take pride in their work. Most of them either have, or had, ski racers in their family.
-- The parents foot the bill. Besides liking to watch the races and see their kids succeed, they've paid some pretty big bucks to get their kid to the events. For instance, one region charged $900 per athlete for this three race event (not including transportation). If one race falls out, the family perceives to have "lost" a $300 investment. But the fixed costs don't change -- that's just the way this sport works and it's actually fair. This is a winter sport and there is associated risk to each race investment.

In the end, the difficult decision to cancel a race is made by the Jury, headed by the Technical Delegate. I could write a full blog describing this person's job and responsibilities. Suffice to say, he/she is the final authority at any race and has overall responsibility for protecting our athletes, the workers and the public. The TD also has a full understanding of all impacts this has on each cohort, but he/she makes the decision that best serves the athletes and the sport. Special people.

The Team had reserved the rooms through tonight, which was a good move. If the race had gone off the boys would be thankful for a hot shower and a bed after tearing down all of the "B" netting (see explanation below). Last year Scott and I drove late after this race and the netting drill and we were miserable. So anyway, the boys had a full day off. I have no idea what they did, although I heard a Canadian vs US hockey game was on tap. They played one two days ago and the Canadians killed them. Scott loves skating and is really getting into hockey (minus fistfights, thank you).

For my part, I had a condo waiting in Panorama. I'll go see my Ski Patrol buddies, pick up my lift tickets, and ski around a while. I want to look at the snow conditions. Looking forward to the next race series.

Oh yeah. "B" Netting. If you watch TV and see the triple walls of red netting lining the course, that's "A" and "B" netting. Traditionally the athletes and coaches dismantle and roll all the "B" netting at the end of an event. It's awkward, difficult and time consuming, but part of the deal.

More downhills

2010-12-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Have I said before that there are no great young downhillers? Yes I have. It takes so long to perfect the line and truly learn/internalize these courses. Scott almost had a career day -- but he didn't.

Now don't get me wrong. He skied well enough to finish 20 of 99, score FIS and NORAM points, beat the entire US "D" Team and alot of the rest of the team team. However, he didn't win. All week long (and for that matter, last year) Scott has been perplexed by one turn called "Fall Away." This turn requires one to dive towards the protective fence going about 70 mph, stand on the left ski and loop back across the hill and over a knoll and and commit to a right foot turn on a sidehill. The move from the fence to the knoll is a "blind" move. He's given up time there every day, but today he was dead on. I had him ahead of the field 2/3 of the way down the course. I was getting ready for the awards ceremony. However it wasn't to be. He came into the turn at the base of the hill and pressured as he had the first four days, except this time he was going about 20 mph faster and before he realized the problem (1/100th of a second) he was looping wide and the race was over.

It took Scott a good 20 minutes to be sociable in the finish arena. He was obviously reliving the 1/100th of a second over and over. He just called me and told me he's alternately pumped and disappointed in the result, but he now knows he can beat all these guys. Now there's something to build upon!

The Suit

2010-12-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

Since we're at a speed week, it probably makes sense to explain speed suits in more detail. The need for speed suits is apparent -- this is a game of fractions of seconds and wind resistance is an important factor.

When the first speed suits were introduced in the late 1960's, there were no quality or safety controls. Naturally things got out of hand in a hurry, and soon folks were wearing suits so slick that a person actually accelerated if they sat on the ground. Fortunately the FIS got a handle on this and there's now a standard for suits. Every suit worn in a FIS sanctioned event must go through a "plomb" test to determine how much pressure is required to push a measure of air through the fabric. This prevents fabrics from being so slick as to be dangerous.

How big is the advantage a speed suit gives? It's significant! As a rule of thumb the difference between a speed suit or regular attire over a 1 minute long GS course is about 1.5 seconds. So everyone searches for ways to make suits faster within the parameters set by FIS. Last year the US had "slippery suits" made especially for the Olympics. These suits supposedly gave a significant advantage over the average stuff. This year the "gig is up" and everyone has access to these suits. Scott is pictured above in this year's US Team suit.

But wait, there's more to this. Scott has two different types of suits, padded and unpadded. Athletes never wear pads for Downhill. They sometimes wear pads for Super G and always wear pads for Giant Slalom and Slalom. However, we've learned that the suits with sewn in pads are not as slick as those without, so athletes now wear "stealth" pads under the unpadded suits in Super G and Giant Slalom.

OK, enough of that stuff. Today was the first Downhill race of the NORAM season. Scott skied well, except for missing his line in one critical spot. It cost him lots of time so he settled for 12th place of 99 in this elite field. He lowered his FIS points, picked up a nice sum of NORAM Cup points, beat the entire "D" Team, plus earned the Juniors (age 19 and under) bronze medal. His goal tomorrow is to take the whole thing... we'll see.

Speed!!!

2010-12-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

Lake Louise is the site of the opening World Cup downhills in North America each year. First the men come through town, then the ladies, and finally, as long as all the preparations have been made, the NORAM circuit bats clean-up... literally. The final day we get to tear down all of the "B" netting!

We live for speed weeks. Although Scott is a four event athlete, speed is truly his forte. He loves the wind in his face and flying off bumps at 80+ mph. We both enjoy the pace. Days are simpler than at technical events. Lengthy inspections, lots of mental preparation, only one run per day, then afternoons of preparing skis for the next race. Everything just seems more layed back. Of course for some people these are stressful weeks, but Scott's so comfortable with speed that this is more like a week at the amusement park.

He's skied well thus far in the two training runs. Yeah training runs. The rules require that any competitor completes at least one timed run through the exact course which will be used on race day. They normally schedule two days in case weather intervenes, but this year he got to run both days. Scott's skis are running well. He was fastest through the traps yesterday and today he handily won the final glide split. Tactically there have been some issues. Yesterday he missed his line on a big fall away turn and took a scenic tour enroute to the next gate. It cost him a bunch of time and he finished 39th. Today he fixed that problem and finished 13th... in the hunt. A win or podium here is well within reach if he puts it all together.

As I mentioned earlier, mental preparation is a big part of this event. At 80-90 mph there's little time for indecision. Athletes must have the course memorized to the most minute detail. Being a foot off line in some segments might put one into the fence. At a minimum, it will cost precious tenths of a second in a game of hundredths. As a coach, I focus on being positive, sticking to a regimen and helping the athletes create tools for remembering their line. But the most important thing after tactics is doing whatever is takes to help each athlete get into the proper frame of mind for the race.

The Spirit of Ski Racing

2010-12-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

It's late, I'm tired and I'm a little fed-up. That said we're in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta for a week of Downhills and Super G. What could be better. Rather than labor through the mechanics of ski racing today, I thought we'd do something a little more light hearted.

We're staying at the Hostel in Lake Louise – not the Ritz, but its restaurant is one of the best kept secrets in this town. Staying at the Hostel also brings us in contact with a variety of international travelers. Last night Joy met a Japanese guy, here for the races, which appeared to be subsisting on a jar of peanut butter. She invited him to join us for dinner tonight.

Takeo Ubukata is a ski technician from Tokyo, the only skier in his family, and a passionate ski racer. He’s 34 and living the dream. He hardly speaks English so it took hours to obtain his story. He says that in Japan it’s impossible to become a downhill racer because the slopes are all so crowded, so they only train slalom on narrow lanes. He decided he had to race downhill, so saved his money, bought some old downhill skis, and headed over here. How he got on a NORAM start list I’ll never know.

While inspecting for the first training run today he was very scared. He wasn’t sure he wanted to run the course. While side slipping down the icy pitch, one of his ski edges ripped out from his ski. When he got to the bottom he decided he’d come this far so he’d better give it a shot. So he switched his skis to the opposite feet so the ripped edge was on the outside and headed to the start. As he told his story in broken English and hand gestures, his excitement was palpable. He triumphantly finished 89th of 99 competitors.

But it’s not over... He’s found some used Super G’s for sale in Banff, so will go there tomorrow to pick them up. He says he can’t afford two sets of skis, has had enough of going 85 MPH, and will just do the Super G’s here and at Panorama next week. So we've adopted him, will feed him again, and will set-up his race skis for the Super G races. You gotta love this guy!

So what's the Point?

2010-11-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

So whats the point? What good is it to hear that someone “improved his points” if you don’t get the point? So today I'm offering a tutorial on the US and international points ranking systems. I hope you'll find this interesting, since this is the fairest ranking system I've seen in any sport. BCS, look to your laurels…

When do points come into play? Youth Ski League racers (12 and under) race in their region, searching largely for individual medals. There are no “standings” per se, and even if there were, those standings would offer little benefit. However, once a racer reaches “Junior” status, (age 13) it’s all about standings and points. Medals mean little or nothing unless they’re earned at a major championship... rankings are what count. There are two very similar point systems, one for USSA (US athletes) and one for FIS (international). US athletes are only ranked in the USSA points list at age 13 and 14. From age 15 through adulthood, our athletes are rated on both lists.

Why are points important? Many races are over solicited, so the entries are accepted based upon points standings (lower points are better). Also, the start order is based upon points, with the lower point athletes starting sooner. Obviously, the sooner one starts, the better the course conditions, and the greater the likelihood of finishing well. But most importantly, points are like the SAT of skiing. Spots on the US Team and top NCAA teams are offered based upon points and world rankings.

How are points earned? Points are earned using an intricate formula; here's how it works: The five lowest pointholders out of the top ten entrants are totalled and added to the five lowest pointholders of the top ten finishers. The sum is divided by ten, then a specific factor is added. This yields what is called the point penalty for that particular race. Once the penalty for the race is computed, each finisher receives the penalty plus race points based upon his finish order, the length of the course, and how far behind he was. For instance, if the penalty for a race was 30 points and I won that race, I would leave with a point result of 30. Let’s say you finished in 9th place, 1.2 seconds behind me, you might get penalty points of 30 plus race points of 7 for a 37 point result. Our results are then entered in the USSA and FIS data bases and averaged with our previous best points finish for the type of event. So, if I earned a 30 today in slalom and my previous best slalom result was a 38, my new points profile for that event would become 34.

Why aren’t medals important? Because I could seek races with weak fields and win every race. So what? My points (and world rankings) would never improve. Instead, racers seek events where the competition is better than them. That way the point penalty is lower and if they ski well they can improve their own point profile. Every racer starts his career with 990 points as a profile for each event. Racers on the World Cup have points in the single digits. It’s a long road to the top, but it is eminently fair.

Scott's FIS points in all events are around 40. Last year as a J2 in FIS elite races he was frequently amongst the early starters. But to get better he has to face tougher fields. So now he's in races with single digit athletes at NORAM level races. Since they're at the front of the start order, they're on the smooth, perfectly prepared, course. Scott and his fellow aspirants are starting way back in the 70's and 80's. So not only are they facing very fast athletes, but they are suffering a handicap from the course conditions. But it's all fair. I'll take this over the French ice skating judge any old day!

The Ladder

2010-11-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it might sound as though Scott has made steady, uninterrupted, progress up the ladder of ski racing success. He has done well and is on a great trajectory, but the rungs on this ladder are getting further and further apart. Sometimes one has to leap for the next rung, get a fingerhold, and pull up. Sometimes one loses his grip. Scott has lost his grip three days in a row -- let me explain.

He's been training hard for weeks and feels ready for a breakthrough. In training he's running even with and often beating athletes with half his FIS point rank. He's primed for success. One problem though, this sport gets tougher at each interval and the only way to reach the top is to claw through seemingly unfair odds. When Scott runs even with the 20 point racers, they're all on roughly the same snow. Their first run is on smooth snow, and as the day wears on and ruts form, they all face the same ruts.

In races like the ones Scott's been in this week, the field is mighty "deep." The World Cup and Europa Cup guys, already infinately better than Scott, get to start in the top 30, on a relatively smooth course. The 20 point guys he trains with get to start in the 40's and 50's, and Scott is starting anywhere from position 70 to 90. But it's fair... every one of those guys ahead of him faced the same challenge and battled through. That's the ladder Scott now faces. He's handling it well mentally and just needs to keep grinding it out. I'm sure he will.

First Blood

2010-11-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

The North American Cup (NORAM) season began this week at Loveland Basin and Aspen, CO. The NORAM, or Continental Cup, circuit is most easily defined by comparison with AA baseball. These are the top athletes in North America who have not yet been called up to AAA (Europa Cup) or “The Bigs” (World Cup). The competitors are aged 15 (rarely) through adult, with competitors from all over the world, which sometimes includes a smattering of Europa and World Cup athletes.

The early season races in Colorado are a tough game. When the World Cup moves to North America, many of the international racers use NORAMS as “tune-ups” for the upcoming races at Beaver Creek. Such was the case this year, with World and Europa Cup athletes from Austria, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Finland, Korea, France, Slovenia, Netherlands, Japan, Argentina and Belgium jamming the field, along with the entire US Team. Add seven of the top Div I NCAA teams to the mix and it was hard to even qualify for a spot on the start list.

The slalom track at Loveland is a varied and steep pitch with many off camber areas and plenty of “micro terrain.” The surface this year was injected a few weeks ago, although several inches of snow fell and were groomed over during the past two weeks leaving a varied surface with some chop and ruts for the later racers.

Scott had a good day. He started 85th and blew out of the course half-way down, but he had a good day. How can that be you ask? Because victories are few and far between in ski racing so one must celebrate the bright spots whenever they appear. Scott absolutely ripped the top of the course, including two tricky combination gates, however, he hit a pot hole created by the other 84 competitors and was spit out of the course. So the bright spot is that his head was in a good place at the start (and after the mishap) and he knows he can rip. That's good enough to bring him back full-steam tomorrow for the next race. Sort of like hitting a great drive on the 18th hole after playing a miserable round of golf!

Oh, by the way, only 42 of 102 racers finished the race. Wait a minute, these are the best in the world and in the USA... how could that be! Because at this level everyone rips and there's no room for temerity. Go all out and see where the chips fall.

Hopefully I'll have a great report for tomorrow.

Skiing Homework

2010-11-24T06:48:00.000-08:00

There's a reason most great downhillers are old, or at least experienced. World Cup downhill courses are surveyed and set exactly the same year after year. Experience pays a huge dividend as the competitors seek the perfect line. These two minute races are normally decided by hundredths of a second. We're trying to catalogue and retain all of Scott's downhill experience as he gains it.

Ever since Scott was little I'd have him run his favorite races through his head and visualize himself in action. It was a useful tool to help him develop the mental skills needed for race preparation, while also increasing his "familiarity" with the regional venues. As time went on, he learned to "rerun" certain frames until he got the turn or move perfectly. Then we progressed to him rehearsing the race against a stop watch to see how close his visual run was to an actual race he'd already completed. Mental training and preparation are essential to success in any sport.

Two years ago we started watching World Cup footage of downhills Scott would someday race. This was helpful his first time down the tracks at Alyeska, AK and Lake Louise, AB, but a video doesn't tell the whole story. So, starting with the Lake Louise World Cup track last year, we began the process of "charting" downhill courses on paper. Scott has a ten page (taped together end-to-end) chart of Lake Louise with footnotes of everything he learned last year. Our plan is to update it and add detail every year he races there. Likewise, he may be forerunning the Birds of Prey World Cup Dec 3rd, so we have just prepared a full length chart of that course, with all of the key jumps and turns labelled. Although Scott ran the bottom 2/3 of the course numerous times in 2007 during the National Development Speed Camp, we aren't going to add any of his notes until he's done a full course inspection this year.

So last night we watched Darren Rahlves' analysis of Birds of Prey on video as step one for next week. We also watched the entire "Thin Line" video to create the mood. I've dusted off our Lake Louise notes for Scott to study on the airplane to Canada immediately after the Birds of Prey. Hopefully my anal tendencies and Scott's focused preparation will pay dividends against the clock.

It never ends...

Chillin' in Dillon

2010-11-23T13:40:00.001-08:00

Break time!!! Scott's final pre-season training block came to an end on Saturday and he's been enjoying the time off. As a bonus, his girlfriend is in town. She's also a top racer, although not yet on the Team, and is out here for a National Development Camp. They've been able to visit a couple of hours a day -- real romantic stuff like tuning skis and doing homework. Her camp finished today, so they're ice skating this afternoon before she heads to Aspen tomorrow.

There are many aspects of a national athlete's life which aren't self-evident. At age 17 Scott lives on the road, sharing rooms with people he really doesn't know, working all day either on snow, in the gym or in the tuning room. Not alot of the normal stuff a High School senior might experience. Scott's further complicated the mix by having a girlfriend from Nevada who travels similarly, but on a different circuit. They won't cross paths again this season until April. It's an interesting life.

The past three weeks have had their good and bad sides in many respects. On the positive side, Scott is skiing the injected surfaces with confidence and strength. He's also right in there with athletes two or more years ahead of him. His health is good, and he's excited about the coming season. His strength is excellent. In addition to hours on the snow each day and some fairly light-weight dryland training with the team in the afternoons, he's been stealing off to the gym at night with a few of the more hard core guys and getting in some extra lifting. He's trying to adhere to our regimen of last year, which was designed for him to continue getting stronger through the competitive season.

On the negative side, I see some regimentation in his skiing, for want of a better word. He's skiing well, but an element of freedom is missing... the freedom that takes it down the hill hard. In the tech events I attribute this to the focus on "carving from the top" which has thrown his timing off a bit. He needs to get back to running the longer line, as we patterned during the first week out here before the Team arrived. If he can just add that back in, he'll be scary fast. He's been working hard in speed and is a natural at those events. However, he's so fucused on the carve that he's too precise to go fast. Now this may be the by product of any number of things such as soft snow conditions at Copper Mountain, working on new stuff, or whatever. But he needs to loosen up a little and let them run. Tonight we're going to watch some of his ski video, followed by the classic downhill documentary "The Thin Line" to get him into the mood for speed!

This "rest" break isn't all relaxation. We've been spending a couple of hours in the weight room every day, plus we've been getting all of his skis super prepped for the next two weeks of racing. Scott's also been doing schoolwork each day. We're looking forward to Joy and Bonnie getting here for the long weekend. Unfortunately, they already had minor car trouble and are now travelling in a winter storm watch. Hopefully they can push through today.

Level 300 and the Moving Target

2010-11-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

For those of you who think I live a blissfull life in the world of pure athletics... think again. Yeah, there are some great times. Being around high level competition is always exciting. But like everything else, we have our bureaucracies, one of which is coaches education.

Now don't get me wrong, despite the inconvenient schedules, expense and dogma of "continuing education" I've learned alot from the clinics and courses offered by USSA (the governing body for US Ski Racing). My problem rests with the management of the programs and the constant change. When I first Joined USSA as a coach in 1998, one could get certified as a Club, State, Regional or National Coach. OK, catchy names, geographically oriented, easy to understand. But wait, a couple of years later they changed it to Level I, Level II and Level III, with advancement through a series of clinics. So I dutifully completed Level I and attended the Level II Slalom and Giant Slalom Clinics, but there were no Speed Clinics to be had. Life superceded education and I dropped out of the process.

When Scott was 12 I offered to enroll him with a traditional Junior program for his teen years. He said he wanted me to remain his coach until he either made the US Ski Team or quit racing. Uh-oh! FIS and National level racing looked pretty complex from the outside so I decided to reenter the education pipeline. Unfortunately, it had changed again and now had three levels labelled 100, 200 and 300 -- how clever. The path was also more complex. For Level 200 one had to attend three different clinics, take two sports science courses from those available, take two management courses from a college, have a first aid ticket (no problem) and be a referee (also already done). Since I knew I was going to be going for Level 300 as well, I took all of the sport science courses. They were pretty good and included Strength and Power Training, Sports Psychology and Nutrician. The management courses were pablum about running a generic sports organization and fund raising -- sort of anticlimatic after 28 years in the Army and 12 years running a ski team. Then of course, there were the clinics; Training Environment, Tactics, Course Setting, Slalom, Giant Slalom, Speed. The challenge -- snow is required to have clinics, but most of us are working as coaches when there's snow on the ground. Scheduling was tough, and just when I'd get the clinic I wanted it was cancelled due to under-enrollment. Long story short, I finally completed my final on-snow clinic this week.

Not so fast! Sure, I've taken everything USSA has to offer, received my Level II Referee card, updated my first aid, undergone another background check and finished all the clinics... but at the end of our clinic this week the instructor mentioned they weren't quite sure how they were going to handle Level 300 after all. They still hadn't defined the management requirement and they might create a comprehensive final exam covering everything plus a practical application test (which has already occurred at each of the clinics). I promptly sent them a complete resume of my military management experience, 10 years a a Ski Patrol Director, 6 years as Chairman of the National Avalanche Board and 12 years running race teams, plus my MBA. I'm hoping to9 hear soon what remains to be done. Far from being a badge hunter, I'm just interested in getting this off my plate.

OK, so much for venting. I just wanted you all to understand why the guy in the photo has only a few hairs left and they're all grey. Aside from management challenges everything is going well and Scott is happy to be on the team. His gear is running well and he is getting faster by the day. He's not perfect, but he knows what to fix. That's progress. Perhaps tomorrow I'll provide a more upbeat look at life on the road.

Golden Peak, Vail

2010-11-14T17:44:00.000-08:00

This has been a big week for Scott in many ways. This is his first time housed with the entire team (including Olympians) as a member of the team. He's rubbing elbows with the big guys, many of which he knew before. He's enjoying that aspect, plus the grade "A" accomodations. Scott's sharing a swank one bedroom condo with hard wood finishes, flat screen TV, etc, etc. It's 100' to the wax room and the dining room where he grazes through a buffet line twice daily -- Scott heaven!

The training hill is directly across the street. It's a fine hill where one can set 1 minute Super G courses and full-on Giant Slalom. The slope starts mellow (24 degrees) for about 8 GS gates, then roles to about 38 degrees for 8-10 more gates. After that there's a "shelf" which is about 22 degrees and 10 gates long followed by a sustained pitch of 30-32 degrees for perhaps 15-20 gates. The slope is triple injected, providing a firm training surface similar to what Scott will encounter on the NORAM circuit. To give you an example, 30 guys did four runs of Super G the other day and there was nary a rut.

Scott's had either Giant Slalom or Slalom training every day since the 6th. Additionally, he's had 3 speed sessions at either Copper Mountain or Vail. I must admit, he's getting his money's worth from the standpoint of training environment alone. There's no way I could have put him on slopes and snow like this, day after day. And the two of us alone would be hard pressed to put up long courses like this, train, and tear them down. I'm already seeing the benefit of the environment and the volume of training in his performance.

Each day I sit a hundred feet from the finish, watching all of Scott's training through binoculars. Being old baseball guys, we know how to communicate from a distance -- Coach Givens would be proud. We also get to watch video together and talk each day. I'm really excited about how he's doing. He knifes the ice like a pro and his strength allows him to do some things others cannot. There are still lingering issues he's working on, such as a "lazy" right hand in slalom that likes to drop each turn and the need to run the deep line. And he still has the occassional problem with timing his turns due to the speed plus the purchase the skis make into the ice. However, even with the occassional major error, his times are right in there and he's not that far off the big guys.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a real good indicator. Unbeknownst to me, an official FIS race was scheduled for the US Team members and selected invitees. It's sort of like the NDS race Scott did last season in Park City to help prep the Olympians -- except this time he's infinately more prepared. Unfortunately, they're now calling for 6-12" of snow overnight, which would put the race at risk. Hope they can pull it off!

Coming Out

2010-11-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Vail welcomed the US Ski Team last night, hosting the official announcement of the 2010-2011 athletes at Arrabelle Square. Easily 1000 folks filled the cramped confines. The event was shown on Universal Sports TV and streamed live over the internet. After the ceremony the Olympians stayed at a table on stage to give autographs and the other athletes were released into the square. Scott got a
good dose of autograph hunters and middle age
ladies looking for hugs.
He's still being harrassed about the later.

After the crowd thinned, our good friends the Johns and I took Scott to dinner at Pepi Granshammer's Gasthof for schnitzel, one of his favorites. It was fitting to eat in the restaurant of a former Olympian and one of the original World Cup Racers.

This morning they hit the snow early, with slalom training at 7AM. This was Scott's first day back on injected snow and he skied well. There were some hiccups, but all in all he's right in there.

Injected snow isn't something the average skier encounters. The crews take a 4" pipe the width of the slope that has mini nozzles every 6" or so. They hook a snowmaker hose to the pipes and inject water directly into the snow surface to saturate. Then the water is turned off, and the pipe is moved 6" downhill -- repeat. It's a tedious and miserable process which is normally done at night, but it yields a rock hard surface for ski racing. The original reason for developing this procedure was to ensure a nearly identical surface for late numbered racers. To level the playing field, so to speak. However, if the big races are conducted on this surface, then the athletes must train on it as well. Interestingly, once an athlete learns to effectively carve on this surface, it becomes his/her favorite since it's predicable and holds edges well.

Spring Training in November?

2010-11-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

We just completed a great week of training at Copper Mountain with our Canadian friends, Michel Pratte and Matt Kerr. Although daytime temps reached a sunny 28 degrees each day, the snow at 12,000 feet was hard and consistent. We trained three days of Giant Slalom and one day of Slalom, with double sessions each day.

Scott's frustration and hard work during the summer paid off in one respect; he is definately developing pressure at the top of the turn and carving to the apex. However, the method they had him using was squaring him too much to the skis, putting his hips in the wrong position, and resulting in a boxy look and a slow line. Scott worked on opening his hips more this week and taking a deeper line which, when combined with the early pressure, generated some real speed. He trained against an older racer with far better GS FIS points (21) and beat him 13 of 13 timed runs by significant margins. Of course, training results aren't conclusive, but this was our first barometer of his progress this year. Scott is definately excited.

Scott also spent 2-3 hours in the gym every day and is looking and feeling really strong. His general health remains my only concern so we've been careful about diet, sleep and warmth. Hopefully his lungs will continue to heal from the pneumonia last year.

I just dropped him off with the US Team at Vail for two weeks of training. They're staying at Manor Vail, just steps from the training venue in some really swank condos. Scott's rooming with Keith Moffet, a top rising prospect who's recovering from a serious injury last year. They've met a number of times and get along very well. Tomorrow is a warm up day as the rest of the guys have been off snow since Chile. Then they kick into full swing, wiith early morning speed training at Copper Mountain followed by technical (GS/SL) training at Vail. I'll be on the periphery watching with my mouth shut.

We're rapidly closing in on the first races of the year and with each passing day the excitment becomes more palpable. Can't wait!

We have lift off....

2010-10-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

As far as I'm concerned, the first day of winter is tomorrow. After weeks of ski tuning, packing, sorting and scheduling, we're on the road and in Colorado.

Scott left Idaho before me, having physical assessments at the USST Center of Excellence in Park City, followed by a "Team Building" trip to Moab, UT from Oct 25-29. Joy and I drove down to meet him this week -- then she took the other car home while Scott and I continued to Colorado. Although this is nothing like military operations, our logistics are far more complex than the average family's.

We're now settled in Dillon, CO with our friends, the Johns, who let us camp here every November. Scott calls this his home away from home. We'll be training with our Canadian friends (and ex-World Cup coaches) Michel Pratte and Matt Kerr for a four days until the rest of the team gets here. This is how we've started our winters for the past three years and it feels good to be back at it. On Friday Scott rejoins the US Team at Vail, where he'll be training for about 18 days. Competition starts on November 27th and will be fast and furious right up to Christmas.

Scott has commited to posting his blog frequently this year, so I hope you check it out for the racer's perspective.

Headin' South

2010-09-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a week getting Scott on the road to Chile for two weeks of winter training. It sounds like it should have been simple enough, but not so. First, there was the little manner of a Triginometry final exam. Then Scott had to get ahead on the grounds keeping job at the property he maintains. Then there was the equipment issue.

Scott was to bring 8 sets of skis to Chile, two for each discipline. We purchased big, three pair, bags for the purpose and planned for 3-4 ski bags plus two large suitcases for the rest of his gear. Our first adventure was that the new bags weighed 11 pounds and three sets of skis made them exceed the 50 lb limit. OK, remove the bindings, weight each different pair of skis, and come up with the right mix. After numerous permutations we came up with five pieces of baggage, each weighing within one pound of the limit. Success!

The US Team arranges travel and likewise negotiates discount baggage fees for the athletes. The coordinator told us she could only prepay 4 bags for Scott's flight due to the first leg being a commuter, "But you can pay full price for the final piece." So we confidently went to the airport this morning only to discover that the airlines limit to four bags per person on commuter flights... period. Ooops! So there we were on the airport floor reorganizing and shortening the list in order to get down to four pieces of baggage. We did it, but two sets of skis stayed in Idaho. I'm sure he'll be fine and we all learned something new today.

This is the only trip I'll be skipping this year. This is the first ski trip Scott has gone on without me along as a coach. Feels funny. However, Joy and I are enroute to Houston and Alabama to visit family and friends. Our first "vacation" together in an age. We're even going to slow down and sightsee on the way. Mt Rushmore tomorrow!

Watch Scott's web for skiing updates during this trip.

Final Tune-up

2010-09-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

We're still trying to figure out where last season ended and the next one begins. We've decided the true kick-off will be the trip to Chile, beginning on Sep 13th.

Anyway, we're presently at Mount Hood, OR for a final tune-up. Nothing big really, just Scott free skiing and searching for the right "feel" on his new gear. The weather is perfect and there's hardly anyone on the glacier, so we have plenty of room to work.

It's been a busy summer, quite unlike the past few years. Normally summer is about strength training, schoolwork, lots of baseball and relaxing times with Mom and Bonnie. Scott did all of that this year, but added four ski training sessions (one California, three here) plus two administrative/physical testing trips to Park City. Our summer was essentially scrambled.

The first few months with the US Team have been enlightening. We're still adjusting, but in the end I'm sure it'll be a good fit. Scott's still excited and happy to be on the team, and that's what counts. Once the competitive season begins it'll feel a lot more like normal.

The photo above was taken at Tawanna Falls this afternoon. We did Scott's aerobic training on Forest Service trails today, and it was well worth it. If you look closely you'll see Scott near the falls, which are easliy 100' tall.

Time to pack lunches for tomorrow.

Sunshine!

2010-06-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

We finally saw some sunshine today. The temps also dropped a little, improving the training conditions. The mountain is beautiful, with more rime deposited on the upper rocks than I've ever seen.

Scott continues to work on "stacking" over the new outside ski during transition. When it works, he's really fast. He can string 5-6 gates together and is impressed with how it feels. However, working on a new move in the race course messes up his timing, leaving him a little frustrated. It's only June... it'll come.

There are two days left in this camp, then Scott flies to Park City for "Rookie Camp" where he'll learn the ins and outs of sponsors, conduct, meeting with the press, etc. I'll be staying here to attend the Level 300 Slalom coaches' clinic. We'll both be home in time for Independence Day.

Winter in Summer

2010-06-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

We're back on snow after a couple of weeks at home. It snowed all day and the forecast calls for more tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully it'll stop soon as we need hard snow for training.

It was good being home for a while. We only saw Bonnie briefly, as she headed to Army Airborne school in Georgia this month. But Mom was there whipping up Scott's favorite meals and smiling all the time. Scott got back into baseball and played about 10 games with his American Legion team. He really loves baseball and enjoys being part of a the team -- lots of good friends. Walking away from the line-up and repacking ski gear wasn't easy.

Scott's training Slalom and Giant Slalom on the glacier at Mt. Hood, Oregon. Lots of memories here as well since I used to spend 3-4 weeks per summer running race camps when he was 7-10 years old. He's staying with the team in condos 20 minutes away. I'm staying for free in the "Atomic House" where the Atomic Ski staff lives for the summer while running their equipment test center. I'm helping out as a ski technician four hours per afternoon in exchange for room, board and lift tickets. I'm working mornings on the hill with Scott and the team.

Scott's been pretty calm about making the team. He smiles and thanks folks when they congratulate him, but he plays everything down. Last night the boys were issued US Ski Team uniforms. Scott called me and tried to sound calm, but I could tell he was excited. Today I saw him in the uniform for the first time and it was cool. It's been a long journey.

It's Official

2010-05-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

Scott was officially nominated to the 2011 US Alpine Ski Team on May 25th. It was a great day for him and our family and he basked in the hundreds of letters and generous words from friends and family. One thing that struck us all is how great it is to live in a small, close-knit, community. If we lived in a city, perhaps a few neighbors in each direction would be aware of Scott's career. However here in Sandpoint everyone knows and celebrates each other's successes. We can't walk down the street or in a store without someone coming up to talk. Really neat and old fashioned in a funny sort of way. Personal.

With Scott joining the team comes an intense schedule that chops the summer into pieces. They'll have him for a couple of weeks every month, then he'll head to Chile for the month of September. I'll travel with him (except to Chile due to expense) so my summer is similarly shuffled. That doesn't leave much time for work around the house, Scott's job, school or relaxing. We've both been going 90 mph since getting home.

Scott will be working with an excellent coaching staff. The head coach, Randy Pelkey, has a strong reputation and is also very organized. That's a huge thing in this business. My original plan had been just to travel with Scott and maintain a low profile, tuning his skis and supporting from a distance. Randy and I met for a while last week and he invited me to be on the hill and pitch in. I was totally taken aback, but jumped on the offer. This is better than I'd hoped. So, although I'm not an official member of the staff, I will be involved and be inside the venues for training and competition.

Now we confront the next major challenge -- funding. Joining the team does not mean free skiing. In fact, the team charges all "unfunded" athletes $22K per season for tuition. Scott will be unfunded for at least two years. Add to that the expense of me tagging along and we're looking at a big chunk of change. The search for grants and donations begins this week. This is my least favorite part of the business.

Layin' Low

2010-05-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most boring weeks of my life. I'm intentionally staying completely off the snow and away from the USST training. I have several reasons. First, I don't want to create an issue with the staff that might impact Scott (although they offered me to be there). Second, Scott is one of only two athletes here who made criteria. the other invitees are in a try-out situation. I don't think it appropriate for an outsider to be there.

So instead, the highlight of each day is a 5 minute visit with Scott while I pick up his skis to tune them. I also get to work out each day, read some books and watch lots of movies.

Scott is enjoying the training. The team spend three days preparing the slopes with jumps and rollers for various drills. The coaches are showing him a technique to build more force at the top of the turn. Scott says he can feel the power and is "getting it." I'll probably sneak up there at the end of the week with some binoculars and see what's going on.

The first day at school

2010-05-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

It starts today. I just dropped Scott off at the US Ski Team "Center of Excellence" for two days of physical assessments. It felt vaguely like the first day of school. He met the new Assistant Coach at the door, filled out some papers, then walked into his dream gym.

Scott is a gym rat. He's been working out since age 9 and builds a few hours of work into every day. I'm sure he'd happily put a bunk bed in here and live full time.

While Scott's working downstairs, I'll be upstairs in a two day "excellence" conference designed for program directors. It'll include insurance briefings, athlete development ideas, fund raising guidelines and other areas which might be useful to our team. As much as anything, its a convenient diversion while Scott is being tested.

The ride down here was as important as the event. I wrote him a "treatise" about the transition, and we had a long discussion about his career and what changes joining the US Ski Team might bring. Certainly there are some great advantages. He will be brought into excellent on and off snow training environments, many of which I could never create. He will also have a group of elite athletes with which to train, which is always a good thing (although he's made it this far with no "rabbits" to pull him). He'll have dedicated fitness, therapy and sports psychology staff at his disposal. He will have quality, experienced, on-snow coaches. He will also have a competition schedule carefully tailored to meet his development needs. That all sounds pretty special, except that it will be substantially different than what he had to this point..

The key word here is comprehensive. Over the past five years Scott trained in a fully integrated environment which encompassed fitness (diet, exercise and schedule), tactics and technical skills, mental strength and equipment management. Scott's success is due to his dedication, focus and hard work. However his rapid development is largely due to the program in which he trained. Two major points we discussed, and I"d outlined in the paper, were:

"Being different is one of the things which propelled you to this point. Remember, your competition isn’t XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX, XXXXX or XXXXX. In the end, your competition is some highly disciplined and dedicated Swiss or Austrian kid who lives and breathes his dream. Every day he’s working out 3-4 hours to get stronger. He tunes his own skis. He has highly competent coaches. He trains year around with a singular focus. He has full family support. He lives in a society where ski racers are Gods and everyone aspires to be one. You’ve watched the Swiss kids -- you know the deal. To beat them in 2014, you must work harder than them today. So don’t limit yourself to standards set for the group. Set your own performance goals, decide what needs to be done, and get after it. If others don’t understand, politely explain it to them. Offer them to join you. Lead the way."

And

"Joining the US Ski Team will be great for you. There are many experts in the organization with a lot to offer. You are at the point where you need their support. The problem with the Team is that the information is compartmentalized. The ski coach knows tactics and technical matters, but isn’t an expert in fitness, diet, sports psychology or equipment. The equipment guy knows all about edges and wax, but little about technique. The sports psychology guy knows lots about minds, but little about technique/tactics or equipment. None of them knows much about you. So you have to learn how to connect the dots. You have to take ownership of making your program comprehensive. That will be the difference between greatness and mediocrity."

I'm sure some would consider my words extreme and unfair to the US Ski Team. I admire the team and respect the staff, however I have little faith in large organizations. They do well for the majority, but often don't meet the specific needs of the individual. Scott is the youngest here and must learn to manage his own future.

The first day at school. He knows his ABC's, he's wearing clean clothes, he knows where to reach me if he needs me, he has lunch in his backpack. He'll do just fine... I remember the day.

Down Time

2010-04-29T21:39:00.001-07:00

With only two weeks at home, Scott and I are staying pretty busy. The initial shock of seeing USST training requirements laid over his original summer plans is beginning to where off. I think he's accepted the price associated with being a full-time athlete.

Scott has a full plate right now, between catching-up on school, knocking the rust off baseball skills and working out several hours a day. In additon to his normal workout routine, he's been going to the gym at Pneumex with his trainer, Peter Faletto, two days per week. Training there gives him access to high tech devices and tech support. As an added bonus, Favio Medina (a pro boxer and championship contender) trains during the same sessions. The guys hit it off and it creates a good supportive environment for the longer workouts.

For my part, I'm busy working with sponsors and forming a non-profit foundation as a conduit for financial support. The new summer schedule also condenses the seasonal work around here and puts me in a crunch to get everything done. I'm trying to get most of next winter's wood in and complete our bulk wax orders before we leave next week.

This is a pretty big adjustment for me as well. Although I still play a significant oversight role in Scott's career, I'm no longer calling the shots. I now have to react to a schedule made by others. It'll work out.

The reality of being a full-time athlete is starting to sink in with Scott.

Not so quick...

2010-04-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

So I came in the door two days ago and took the suitcase upstairs. I actually contemplated unpacking for the first time in seven months. However the following morning I received an e-mail for the US Ski Team with Scott's "off-season" schedule. We hit the road again May 9th for physical assessments followed by 12 days of skiing at Mammoth, CA. More in June and August followed by Chile in September. So much for unpacking...

Sprint to the finish

2010-04-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of news. The past two weeks have been a blur, with ten starts in eleven days at two mountains. I had some trepidation about this trip. My concerns centered around possible fatigue, waning focus and the potential for soft snow. Scott insisted and, as it turns out, he was right. He scored in six of the ten races against elite fields.

We started at Mission Ridge, WA for two Super G, two Slalom and two Giant Slalom races. The field included eight US Team members, plus an array of team hopefuls trying to get those final points needed to meet US Team criteria. Scott had a little problem adjusting back to softer snow the first two races, then he regrouped and really threw down. He left Mission Ridge with improved point profiles and World rankings.

It was great being back home in the Northwest. We've been road warriors on the national circuit and haven't seen many of the kids with whom Scott came through the system. We have so many family and coaching staff friends here.

After the Mission Ridge series, we hopped in the car and drove to Mt Bachelor, OR for two elite downhills. The track was in great shape and they were able to start the races from the crater of the volcano (always a thrill). The Snow's have fond memories from this place. Both Bonnie and Scott have had great success here -- in fact, this is Bonnie's favorite race hill. It features numerous jumps and compressions. We also got to use the home of our dear friends the Beards, which also holds many special memories.

Scott pretty much owned the hill, cleanly winning the two downhill training races. Training races are required by the rules for downhill, with the course is set exactly as it would be for the real race. He then won the first official downhill by .65 seconds. Today, in the final race, he was edged out by .04 of a second by a US Ski Team member. In all, it was a very successful end to the year.

So now we hit the road home. First we have to swing through Twin Falls, ID to retrieve the Subaru with a replacement engine (January's casualty). Then I'll be hustling to fix everything that broke at the house over the winter.

Season of intrigue

...with a little help from my friends.

2010-04-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

We're in Wenatchee, WA for some training before the last tech race series. Our good friends, Matt and Katie Dolan offered us free lodging for the nine days w're here, which brings to mind all the great people who've helped us in many ways this season. This is an enormously expensive and exhausting journey, and so many folks have helped with donations, lodging, assistance and moral support. Thanks to you all.

The plan was for Scott to be off skis the entire time we were home, however a foot of fresh powder intervened and we had a great day at Schweitzer on Saturday. Unfortunately, towards the end of the day, powder, World Cup GS skis, a 360 aerial and DIN 16 bindings combined to tweek Scott's knee. Nothing serious -- just a strain that bore watching. We headed to Mission Ridge early for two days of training on the venue anyway.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, a spring storm cancelled yesterday's training, giving Scott another day to mend. It seems that did the trick as he is 100% this morning. We'll be training on a closed ski area, using snowmobiles for upward mobility. Should be fun!

Pit Stop

2010-04-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

After a nice dinner and brief visit with Bonnie in Bozeman, we rolled into Idaho late Tuesday. It's so nice to be home after 49 days on the road. Unfortunately, we leave again Sunday for the final two weeks of competition. So these four days will be spent getting ahead on school, reworking all the skis and doing two sets of corporate taxes plus our personal taxes. I do love these rest periods!

Scott's left patellar tendon was pretty inflamed last week, so he won't be skiing this entire period. That'll give him seven days off snow, which should do the trick. We'll head to Mission Ridge two days early and let him tune-up there.

Leaving Lutsen

2010-03-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today we left the land of Ole and Clarence -- we really enjoyed seeing this part of the country, and the people are amongst the friendliest we've met. I'm going to miss that old fishing cabin!

Scott skied well today. The first course set was nuts and impacted all of the field except two USST racers who nailed it. Scott's description was that it was so non-rhythmic that he had to "think" all the way through and never got in the flow. Notwithstanding, he was 11th after the first pass. He burned the second run, moving into 6th place overall. So for the weekend he earned two Golds, two Silvers and the Combined for J2s. He also, curiously, finished third for the season in Central Region, to which he doesn't belong. I imagine the J2s will be glad to see him leave.

We saw some crazy course sets this week. In addition to straight courses and way offset courses, we saw the following: oblique inside hairpins, hairpins running straight into hairpins, delays into hairpins, hairpins into delays, a hairpin into an inside flush which was oblique, and for the first time ever, a delay into an opposite delay (thus creating a semi-GS section). I guess the FIS requirement for three hairpins, one flush and one delay just isn't enough for some people!

Some coaches feel they need to get creative. They pride themselves on artistry, even when it degrades the competition. Some of them even think they're Picasso... I do not subscribe to those theories. I believe a course should be straight-forward, rhythmic and challenging. Not easy, just fair. The best racer will always win, but fair courses allow all the athletes to measure themselves against the best.

A rule of thumb is that if a course knocks out more than 20% of the field (barring extreme snow conditions), it's the course setter's fault. Since Scott advanced to the FIS level, I've frequently seen 40% of the field DQ in a run. Another disappointing trend is that this often happens on the final day of an event. I've heard coaches joking about "Sunday sets" that allow them to hit the road home early. That's criminal!

Each of these athletes has worked years preparing to compete at this level. They deserve a fair shot. Moreover, each of their families spend about $1000-1500 per event for entries, lodging, meals and travel. I don't think we have the right to be so cavalier about their investments.

It's Unofficial!!!

2010-03-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

The US Ski Team publishes objective criteria for team selection each year. This year's criteria were tightened-up from years past. For a J2 to make the team, he must win two of four events at the J2 National Championships (Scott won two and took Bronze in another), be ranked top 10 in the World for his age group in one discipline (Scott's #1 in the World in two disciplines), and have Giant Slalom or Slalom points below 45 (Scott was at 48 and 46 respectively when he woke up this morning). We haven't discussed this as Scott inched his way down the past few weeks. But every crash or missed opportunity turned up the pressure... silently.

Today Scott brought his Slalom points down to 41, thus fully meeting US Ski Team criteria. Of course, nothing is official. The invitation letters go out in May. However, for the time being he's the only non-team member to meet criteria this year, so we sort of expect the letter.

This is a big relief for both of us, although we never doubted his ability. Now that it's done he can relax and enjoy the remainder of the season even more. A good, semi-emotional night for the Snows.

North Country

2010-03-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

We rented a lakeside cabin near Lutsen, Minnesota for the races. Little did we know it would be an artifact. This place is great! It was built by the owner's grandad, and he hasn't changed a thing. Hand made furniture and cabinets, generations of "special" stones and driftwood on shelves and the porch, faded children's drawings on the wall, old books, hand carvings, wood stove, etc, etc. It even smells old, like my uncle's farm in New York. Scott is loving the place. He thinks it's cool to see the old pots, plates, hand mixers, etc in the kitchen. And he enjoys jumping the rocks along the shoreline. Who cares about racing -- this is a vacation.

But sadly, we did come to race. Lutsen is famous for it's Spring championship race -- the Central US FIS Championships. The US Ski Team sent a healthy contingent here (6 or 7) to help with the point penalty and there's plenty of other competition, including numerous college racers. Due to an early thaw, the Giant Slaloms were cancelled, so it's now a four Slalom series.

After two weeks of temperatures in the 50's, we had a deep freeze for race day. Be careful what you wish for, they always say. The snow set up like a shiny brick -- so hard I could barely navigate for course inspections. The conditions took a toll on the less experienced skiers. Scott, however, skied well the first two days. He finished 12th and 10th respectively, right in the middle of the USST and NCAA guys. He scored some points, although not as many as he'd hoped. The first day he "... gave the hill too much respect..." the first run. The second run he inadvertently tripped the wand as he approached the start, easily losing a second. Arrgh!

But when you're skiing well none of that matters. Tomorrow's another day. Oh by the way, another beauty of our little cabin is that there's no cell service, WiFi or TV.

Out of Touch

2010-03-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

This is a "catch-up" posting to close out the US Alpine Championships. We awoke the final morning to warm weather and a drizzle. Disappointing, given a hard freeze had been forecast and that after the slalom debacle Scott was looking forward to good course conditions. It rained all day...

Scott skied great. He attacked the course and even had the fastest split in one run. On the first run he hooked his arm in a panel near on the final pitch, which spun him off line. Notwithstanding, he climbed up 28 places. The second run he was flying again when he crashed in nearly the same part of the hill. He skidded and regained the course after some skating to finish 36th overall. Not a bad showing with a fall, which attests to his speed on top. In all he felt good about the day. This is a tough sport, and as I said in an earlier blog, one must seize the small victories or be consumed.

We packed-up the following morning and embarked on two, 12 hour, days of driving to the Northern edge of Lake Superior. We travelled ground we've never seen, including Ontario, the Michigan penninsula, Wisconsin and Minnesota. There's a lot of wilderness left up here... it isn't all Detroit!

Championship Slalom

2010-03-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Scott started 75th in a very strong slalom field today. I figured it would be tough given his start number and the snow conditions. The temperatures dropped to 27 degrees, and they heavily salted the course, but ruts still developed very quickly. They were the ugly, knee deep with verticle walls, variety. The course set was difficult and six of the top fifteen racers didn't finish. By racer number 30 finish times were coming in 4 seconds off the lead. By number 50 times were 7-9 seconds off the pace. Scott skied really well until about 15 gates from the finish, on the final pitch, when a rut spit him out and he did a full flip and a half, landing hard on his right shoulder. Naturally he hiked and finished, but he was dead last by a large margin. At the end of the day, only about half of the field finished.

So we decided not to do the second run, and instead let Scott heal for Giant Slalom tomorrow. The temps are supposed to drop into the teens tonight, so we should have a good, icy, surface for his final event.

Super G

2010-03-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

Scott raced in the National Championship Super G yesterday. This is the real championship against the US Ski Team and selected other top US racers, totalling about 80. It was warm and although the track had been heavily salted, it was still a little peely. Scott started hard, then hooked his arm on the second gate, slowing him. In fact, he was 24th on the first split. But he must have put the gas down after that, as he finished 14th overall and 4th for Juniors (age 19 and under). That result raised some eyebrows, as the youngest competitor beat about half the US Team.

Scott also had his first major autograph event. The finish area was jammed with spectators. As he exited the finish arena he ran into a herd of kids wanting autographs on hats, helmets, coats, etc. He was signing like crazy and quite overwhelmed when he noticed Tommy Ford (the next racer behind him) come through the gate. "Hey kids, there's Tommy Ford, the Olympian!" The herd immediately shifted it's focus and Scott escaped, only to run into the "second wave" as he described it.

After the openning ceremony last night, I decided to check out the Olympic ice arena near our house. This is the scene of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice." As I approached the door I remembered the NCAA Finals Hockey Championship was going on. We strode in as though we belonged there and headed to the upper seating. Zambonies were on the ice and another spectator told me they were preparing for a 20 minute overtime to decide the tied game. So we got to watch the climax of the NCAA Hockey Finals live. Good fun.

All in all, it was a very good day!

Slush Pit

2010-03-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Lake Placid around noon today so that Scott could free ski and train a little on the Super G track. The base temperatures reached a record 61 degrees today and the snow conditions on the slopes were abominable. For those who have trained on the Mt Hood glaciers in July, it was like 1pm there.

Tomorrow promises to be just as warm. They intend to heavily salt the course, which should yield a pretty hard surface... at least for a while.

Scott will be starting 16th, which is an excellent opportunity. The course should still be in great shape when he comes down. Also, the top 30 racers will be shot for the TV coverage on VERSUS March 28th. If he performs well we may be able to see Scott on TV for the first time!

Refreshed

2010-03-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

If I am reincarnated as a rich boy, I want to go to the Stratton Mountain School. Wow, that place is the best! Last week I called my friend Mike Morin to ask if we could train a few days with his athletes enroute to US Alpine Championships. He said he'd set everything up for us. Did he ever -- room, board, use of the tuning room, lift tickets and three days of much beeded tech training.

Ski racers can't just compete. Skills are perishable and they periodically need a "tune-up". Due to the addition of a few events by our Region, Scott hasn't trained since Feb 8th. We didn't want to fall into the same trap as least season, so this stop was just what he needed.

But enough about that. Let me talk about the academy. SMS has 120 athletes, divided evenly between alpine, cross country and freestyle. The campus is immaculate and positioned less than 1/2 mile from the slopes. The faculty is top notch. The alpine staff is headed by Mike, a veteran of 9 years coaching the US Team. His assistant is a former CU racer who also coached there. The entire staff is young, highly qualified and very motivated. The feeling is similar to when I'd walk into a well led Army unit. We'd call it "Command Climate", and this place has a good one. It also has a first class facility with a large field house, weight room, therapy rooms and staff, etc The complete package.

Academies aren't for us, but if they were I suspect this would be our choice.

"Baseball is 90% mental... the other half is physical." Yogi Berra

2010-03-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Many sports become "90% mental" at the highest levels. Ski racing is a prime example. On any given day 30 guys could win the World Cup, but the mind is what separates them.

Thanks to my daughter and first FIS racer, Bonnie, I've been forced to study sports psychology. Scott is the benficiary. Around age 12 he started to let his mind interfere with performance. Many books, conversations, mental drills and visualizations later Scott emerged with a strong competitor's mind... but he's still 16 years old. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, he goes on some strange tangent. Last week was one of those times.

Let me preface this story by saying that coaching ones own son is richly rewarding and highly frustrating. Let's face it, he's 16 and I'm 60 -- I know nothing. But I digress. Last week Scott straddled a gate and had to hike in the first run of the J2 Nationals Slalom race. No big deal, that stuff happens. He decided he'd try to win the second run from the back of the pack in a deeply rutted course. Go for it! So he got all pumped up at the start line and ran an incredible race, knees pumping and arms flying, posting the 10th best time. Now an adult would say that was fun and move on. Not so much for a 16 year old.

Two days later Scott made an error in the first run of the Giant Slalom and was sitting in third place, .12 of a second out. The two racers ahead of him hadn't been within a second of Scott all season. All he had to do was settle in for a solid run. Instead he super amped himself. He looked like Ferdinand the bull with steam coming from his nostrils. Scott "overskied" that run and wound up with the Bronze medal. He was reticent to discuss the race and never came to terms with what went wrong. I tried to discuss arrousal levels at the start line, and he shut me out. So be it. A week later we still hadn't come to closure.

Today Scott raced in the NORAM finals Super Combined. Because he has no Super Combined points he was starting near last. The snow was soft and the course was a little worked, but nothing serious. At the Super G start line he again got all amped for the race. He looked as he had for the prior week's Giant Slalom. I watched him cut inside the line on the first four gates, very aggreassive, before he went out of sight. When I reached the bottom and saw his time I could tell he'd had a bad run... 3.5 seconds out when he should have been 1.5-2 seconds out against this field. He wouldn't say anything more than, "I skied like crap. I was too hard on my edges." I explained that if that was the best technical analyisis he could offer, he wasn't ever going to improve. He got upset with me and I reciprocated. I told him he might have been a little too fired up at the start. He replied. "It's not a mental issue."

We'd forgotten his slalom helmet at the condo, so I went to get it. About 25 minutes later Scott called me. "Hey Dad, you're right. I think you're right. I let my mind get in the way." We agreed that he knows exactly how to fix this and can do that in tomorrow's Super G.

So today was a win. By making a major error, Scott was able to go backwards and identify a problem he can easily control. Any day you learn something is a good day!

The Hobbit

2010-03-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Travelling as we do, Scott and I see and sleep in a lot of different places. But I have to admit, this week's accomodations take the cake. The photos on VRBO must have used a special, wide angle lense, because when I walked into the place I could have sworn I was in Bilbo Baggins hootch.

The place is as advertised. Kitchen, living room and two loft beds. I just didn't realize it was HO scale! But it sort of grows on you and the landlords are very nice, so this'll be fine.

The ride to the ski slope is also a treat. Twenty one minutes of muddy lanes over hill and dale. Farms, barns, fields of cattle. Great stuff.

So this is home sweet home for a while. Oh, I forgot to add that they have three friendly dogs, so Scott is happy.

Down Time

2010-03-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

As we learned by squeezing in the Park City races last month, if you don't build in down time you won't be ready to perform. Some of the athletes on the same circuit as us went straight to training on Tuesday and will train every day until the NORAM Finals begin.

Imagine having nine days of competition and training at the biggest event in your season, then going right back into training. Competition, when done at the right level of intensity, is both physically and mentally exhausting. That means a little down time is needed afterwards. Scott hasn't only been resting the past two days, he's been putting last week's results into perspective and refining his plan for this week. The importance of mental and emotional readiness can not be underestimated.

We spent two days in the same airport hotel just chilling and eliminating distractions (overdue schoolwork and admin stuff). Today we relocated to Kennebunkport and are in an ancient hotel. Scott's off for a run on the beach and I'm going to hike through the historical district. Afterward we'll go eat some fresh seafood (Lobstah skiing!) and maybe take in a movie. Phase two of the downtime.

Tomorrow we start to put the "game face" back on. We'll check in at Burke Mountain, assess snow conditions, prep skis, and get to bed early. Scott will hit the snow ready perform at a high level again on Saturday. Often down time is more valuable than training...

Greed

2010-03-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

Scott just got "in" the NORAM Finals, compliments of some inside work by our friend and Western Region coach Jeff Pickering. Scott was first alternate. We were hoping for another shot at Super G points before the US Alpine Championships, since Scott missed out on all the speed stuff at Aspen with pneumonia.

Jeff said Scott's in for everything, including the GS and Slalom. That would be the temptation... to go for everything and hope for good scores. However we learned last year that success doesn't come without training. Scott hasn't had a chance to practice the tech events since February 8th. Better to be patient and find a place to train.

I called my friend Mike Morin (formerr USST tech coach and head of Stratton Mountain Academy). He's arranged lodging, food and lift tickets with his guys for the three days between the NORAM Super Gs and Alpine Champs. Perfect! Very generous of Mike and very good for Scott.

Nerves

2010-03-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

I'm seldom nervous about anything. Certainly I "sweat the details", but that's how you achieve perfection. However, once I have everthing in place I don't fret. No matter what, I try to hide any emotions I have from Scott on race day. He knows me too well and can pick up on them right away. I was nervous today...

Maybe it was the big win yesterday -- the fear that by winning the race that didn't matter he somehow put a hex on himself for the championship. Maybe it was the wind I heard blowing last night -- wind that could steal a victory. Maybe it was the sudden temperature drop that might render the chosen wax ineffective. Maybe it was because I acquiesced and let the head coach change his start number from 8 to 4 (I hate early starts). Who knows what it was, but I awoke at 5AM and couldn't sleep any longer. Extra coffee and computer time never hurts, I suppose.

I didn't discuss any of these things with Scott, and went about our race day routine like normal. Good breakfast, equipment check, course inspection, ski preparation, course reports, warm-up, etc. I clicked him into his bindings and skied to my vantage point with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then racer #3 (his good friend Max Axlerod) had a bad crash. "Start stop! Start stop!" Damn, maybe this was the curse I'd been fearing. "I hope he keeps his focus. I hope he's keeping his muscles warm. All the things he's been taught." Five minutes, maybe more... Finally the race resumed. Scott skied with great strength and confidence, winning the downhill by another convincing margin of one second. Yahoo! The wait was over and the world was right again.

Today Scott completed one of the best weeks ever at J2 Nationals, winning two championships, taking a bronze, becoming the first ever to repeat as a champion. It was great redemption for all those long days working together and those long weeks on the road. He just completed a huge step towards making the US Ski Team and we were both relieved.

Wind Blows

2010-03-08T11:57:00.000-08:00

I hate wind on speed days. Once Bonnie was in the start at the Sun Cup Super G and a gust nearly blew her back intot he start shack -- game over! That's the problem... wind creates an uneven playing field.

The wind was pretty significant today. Some gusts at the top of the course were easily above 25 MPH. But the wind was pretty steady between the gusts so I have no idea the aggregate effect on the race. Fortunately, today's race was simply a FIS race, not the National Championship.

Yesterday I did a pretty detailed post-race analysis of Scott's ski bases, trying to determine how much wax was left and where. Although the snow is warm and moist, the surface is hard at the points where most pressure is exerted on the ski. I found the inside edges of the base "dryer" especially towards the tip and tail. I'm assuming those areas are under the most pressure while turning and the wax is stripped off quicker. Given it was forecast to be 4 degrees colder today, I used a different strategy. I waxed harder under the base and at the inside edges. I still used a warmer wax for the rest of the ski. At the start line I also used a harder application the first 1/2" from the inside edge, then a warmer application over the rest of the ski. Scott rarely comments about his skis, but he told me they felt "slick."

There was also a detailed post-race analysis of Scott's skiing, given his difficulties on the course yesterday. He already knew what to fix, I just had him explain it to me during inspection. All the fixes seemed to work as he won the downhill by 1.3 seconds, a huge margin in speed racing. He also posted the fastest time through the traps at 82 MPH. So it was a good day and we'll try to take this into tomorrow's championship race.

DH Training

2010-03-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Today was the required downhill training day. The track hardened sufficiently this week to provide a safe and fast race. Add sunshine and great visibility, and this was a great day.

From a competitive standpoint, the hill leaves something to be desired. The upper 2/3 is steep enough and has variable terrain, but the final 20 seconds of the course is flat and unchallenging. There also are no jumps whatsoever. From our perspective, this hill takes away some of the advantages that normally would accrue to an experienced downhiller.

Scott was second in the training run by .15 seconds. He did, however, post the fastest speed through the traps (81 MPH). If he had finished and told me, "I had a perfect run." I'd be worried. Instead he slipped to a hip and hand on the fourth turn, taking him off-line for that section of the course. He skied great from there down. So tomorrow is a FIS downhill, followed by the National Championship downhill the following day. Scott is confident and looking forward to the race.

The Plan

2010-03-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

Stick to the plan... that's what ourfriend Matt Kerr always says and that has been one of our menomics all season. Forgot that one today. A central part of the "plan" is always to ski the long line. That went out the window in the second run today.

It was the Giant Slalom day. Scott was the low seed going in and nobody in the field had beaten him all year. But that doesn't matter in ski racing and certainly doesn't matter in a championship race.

The first run he cut a little too close to a gate and shinned it, destroying the gate and bucking himself sideways. Notwithstanding he finished in 3rd, just .12 off the lead. He was really focused and determined the second run, but probably tried too hard. He broke the patterning he's been using this year and pinched the line all the way down. Even with that he was running fast and in good shape until five gates from the bottom when he looped low and lost all of his speed. The end result was a Bronze medal.

Perspective -- it's a Bronze medal at the National championships. Reality -- it should have been Gold. He's pretty disappointed with himself.

Tomorrow is the Downhill training day (a non-scored race on the exact DH course they'll race). After that he has two downhills, the second one being the National Championship event. Scott loves Downhill, so no matter what happens this will be a fun ending to the week.

Lookin' up!

2010-03-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

Things are looking up. In the past two days the snow has setup and is getting really hard. Add to that a forecast including five sunny days, and we're ready to rock. Today was the Men's and Women's Super G competition.

The policy here is that there is no free skiing allowed on speed skis. This policy was imposed after the death of a racer last year. This posed a real problem, given that the transition from Slalom to speed isn't that simple. This morning they allowed warm-up runs for one hour on the lower part of the race venue. Slow lifts converted that to just two practice runs. Scott and I made good use of the opportunity, testing various waxes. Scott's Super G race skis were bent at Aspen, so we've been scrambling to get his trainers up to speed. Based on our tests, we decided to use an experimental wax with a new overlay not yet in the Podium product line. While Scott inspected the course, I prepped his skis.

To get to the point, Scott won the Super G, becoming the first athlete ever to defend a national title at J2 Nationals. This was not without adventure. He charged hard from the start and was still skating after the second gate when he got hung-up on his inside edge and tipped over. He caught himself with his hand and quickly pushed himself back up, having only lost a little time. The rest of the run was great and the skis ran very well.

So now the train is back on track. Tomorrow the Men have Giant Slalom. After that its three days of downhill.

Silver Lining

2010-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

Day one at J2 Nationals started great. Scott was "cookin" during warm-ups and his head was in the right place. He felt it and I truly believed a slalom win was in the cards today. Unfortunately, he straddled a gate the first run and hiked a l-o-n-g way. He was 60th going into the final run.

Scott was disappointed, but he's grown a lot mentally in the past two years. After a brief rest, he went out to warm-up for the next run. His question to me before the second run was, "Do you think I can win it?" I told him "No, but you can have fun trying. Impress me." And so he did.

The snow today was soft, and the ruts were easily knee to thigh deep by the time Scott ran. He exploded out of the start and never let off. At one point he was five feet in the air, but he landed and knifed the run top to bottom. It looked more like an Olympic bump run than a slalom. He didn't win the run, but he was in the top 15, only a little way off. The crowd rewarded him with an ovation and he ended the day on a high note. Something to take into tomorrow...

Sometimes...

2010-02-28T10:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things are meant to be. It often seems that the when worst thing in the world occurs to me, I'm thankful weeks later. This may be one of those times. Scott's illness was a huge disappointment for both of us. Huge scoring opportunities in his favorite events, on a great hill... all lost.

However, there will be other opportunities like these in the years to come. We mustn't lose sight of Scott's season goals. The major event of the year for athletes his age is the J2 National Championships, being hosted by Sugarloaf, ME this coming week. Everything we've done since last April is focused on succeeding next week. I can already see where a full week of competition in Aspen, followed by driving across country in 48 hours, might not have postured Scott for success at J2s.

Scott spent 10 of the past 11 days resting. He stayed indoors, took his meds, slept long nights, caught up on school and visited with his mother. All good things. He also worked out hard for 2+ hours each day at the local gym. Provided his VO2 is recovered, he's probably in his best best shape since October. Nothing like rebuilding mid-season! We're hoping that the rest and drugs, plus the fact that we caught the pneumonia in its early stages, will reduce the lung damage. Coming from 10,000 feet down to sea level doesn't hurt either!

Meanwhile, I took advantage of this break to add two days to the travel plan and leave early for the East coast. I'm in Boston now waiting for Scott's flight to arrive -- more rest for him. In retrospect, there's no way we could have safely made the drive in two days; I'm glad we didn't try!

So we go to the big Championships with lots of questions that will be answered when Scott hits the snow on Tuesday. Fortunately, he'll have three days on snow before competition begins. We're cautiously optomistic.

Train Wreck

2010-02-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

Drugs aren't the answer... After three days of antibiotics and rest, we hoped Scott would be ready for today's Super G. Not so! He says he felt OK for two turns, then got weaker and weaker in the course. By the time he was halfway down he couldn't breath, was getting tunnel vision and was dizzy. Nice time to hit a jump at about 60 MPH.

He doesn't remember much except twisting in the air and cartwheeling for quite a while. The end result is evident in the photo, a bent ski and broken binding. Guess it could have been worse. Atomic sends us replacement skis -- they don't do arms and legs though.

So now we're left with few good options. I pulled Scott from tomorrow's Super G for safety and health reasons. He needs time to recover from the pneumonia. We may wind up just sitting here in an Aspen Condo all week getting well for J2 Nationals. Its a bitter pill given that Scott loves speed events and this hill. There are huge scoring opportunities here this week as well. But we can't lose sight of which race series are the most important to his career.

At least this is a nice condo...

Ouch!!

2010-02-19T01:15:00.000-08:00

Last night Scott mentioned his chest felt "heavy" and he hoped he wasn't catching my cold. This morning he repeated the complaint and added that he was light headed. Uh oh... immediate action required, sort of like a blown car engine!

We stopped by Emergency Care in Heber City, UT and he was diagnosed with Pheumonia. They looked under my "hood" as well and I'm there too. Three hours later, after respiratory therapy, needles and antibiotics we're back on the road. Scott's is limited to the base of his right lung. Mine is all over. We're optomistic that three days of antibiotics and rest will get Scott to where he can race the NORAM speed next week. We'll probably have to arrange something over his mouth so the air warms a little before inhalation. I have an easy week as Finish Referee for the events, so I can pace. Life just got a little more complicated.

The good, the bad and the ugly

2010-02-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

The Good -- This week leaves no doubt that Scott can knife the hardest ice. He skied with great strength and confidence in all events.

The Bad - In the first of two Slalom races today Scott was attacking the steepest pitch on the course, carving all the way, when his inside ski tip centered on a gate. His ski instantly released and he fell flat on his face. In the process he overtook the unattached ski and rolled over it the length of his body.

The Ugly - The end result was a deep bruise to his hip and thigh. We tried working it out before the second race, but the shots of pain made it impossible for his quads to fire reliably. He pulled from the final race.

The week was not a loss as Scott got to train and compete on an injected Olympic venue. This was a great confidence builder for the coming championships in Maine, Vermont and New York. It was also fun to be part if the Olymoic tune-up and be in the same race with the big boys. We enjoyed the afternoon off, tuning all the skis for the next event and packing in leaisure. Scott ice skated two hours just to keep the legs moving. We hit the road to Aspen tomorrow and look forward to seeing our great friends and supporters JJ and Laura for a brief visit.

A satisfying day

2010-02-15T19:20:00.000-08:00

The field here turned out to be deeper than we expected. In addition to the US Olympians and the remainder of the US team, the Swedish Olypians were here, plus about fifteen elite athletes from eight other countries. In all there were 78 athletes, with Scott the youngest.

Scott skied well in the first run, moving from 59th to 24th place. The second run he picked up some more spots and finished 20th overall. This was a huge result for him given that it was in front of the US coaches and hierarchy. He's pretty excited.

Tomorrow he has another Giant Slalom, then Wednesday two Slalom races. Can't wait!

The Final Push

2010-02-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

We're in Park City, UT getting ready for the NDS races. The Olympians are returning to the US for a four race tune-up this week. The rest of the US team plus selected invitees will participate. Not only is this a unique opportunity, but the points should be pretty good. So Scott and I came down two days early to prepare. Mostly I wanted to get him on the race hill (which is heavily injected with water) and feel the surface. We ran Giant Slalom today and he's ripping, so tomorrow will be a "day off" with school and physical training.

Scott broke both pairs of his slalom skis last week. Atomic rushed one set directly here to Park City, and the other set should arrive any time. So my entertainment today was six hours of set-up and initial tuning. I have three days to get about six more coats of wax into the base before the slalom races on the 17th. Ah, another ski vacation!

After these races we head to Aspen for a week of NORAM speed (Super G, Super combined and two downhills). Then we have the National Championship Downhill at Aspen. After that we have two days to get to Maine for the J2 National Championships, followed by the NORAM Finals in Vermont and the US National Championships (GS, SL, SG) at Lake Placid. We'll hit one race in Minnisota on the way home, then hang up the skis at the end of March. The season is flying by...

Pit Stop

2010-02-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

The stop at Snow King was successful. Scott skied strongly, and despite some baubles was able to score in both Giant Slaloms. He also was .34 off the lead on the final Slalom run. In all he won three J2 Golds. These results, combined with his speed results at Mammoth, made him the top Western qualifier for J2 Nationals next month.

So now we're home for three days before embarking on a 45 day road trip. Scott trained one day, but will rest the remainder of the visit. While he tries to get ahead on schoolwork, I'm doing a full renewal on eight sets of race skis. This is a good chance to reload the bases, polish sidewalls and fine tune the edges. Every race from here out is important.

Being home is great! Naturally, being with Joy is the best, but it's also fun to run into all of the locals as we run errands and so forth. The folks in this town are very supportive of Scott and show genuine interest.

On the move

2010-02-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

Scott had a good two days of downhill. After winning the training run, he had a hiccup on the first race, finishing third. The snow peeled off just as he lined up for a jump, causing him to land a few feet over from where he wished. The penalty was being off line entering a sweeping turn. It doesn't take much! The second day went very well, with Scott taking second, .17 off the lead. So we leave Mammoth feeling pretty good.

We drove hard after a full day of racing, and made it to Elko, NV by midnight. We chose the short route across some pretty desolate areas. The push was needed so we could have breakfast with a dear family friend whom I coached years ago in Alaska. Of course now she's a Mom with two beautiful kids (see photo). There are some drawbacks to this life we live, but getting to see friends is a big plus!

We resumed the drive and at 11:30 AM our engine blew up about 40 miles south of Twin Falls, ID. Not many options so I went into crisis management mode. We negotiated a new Outback over the phone, called a wrecker, coordinated repairs, and were back on the road in a new car in less than 3 hours. There's no time in our schedule for delays. So now we're the proud owners of a spare Subaru which we'll pick up in March on the way back across country. Gotta love it!

Blow out!

2010-01-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

We had one of those "You've got the life..." days. Rise at 6AM, at the hill by 6:45AM, wait for a weather decision until 9:30AM (cancelled downhills), coaches meeting to draw a new seed at 11 AM. At least Scott got to ski powder. So now we have two downhills scheduled for "moving day", which means hitting the road late for a 16 hour jaunt to Jackson, WY for the next race. Ouch!

More Speed

2010-01-29T20:49:00.000-08:00

We're at Mammoth, CA for a week of speed. It was pretty discouraging watching the weather the week before we came -- Mammoth received ten feet of snow in eight days. After losing the first day to weather, things straightened out. The grooming and race staff were on the ball and we're now running on a pretty solid surface.

This isn't a big points opportunity for Scott, but he's here to support the Western Region and help with the penalty because his speed points are low. There'll be lots of times like this. He's skied really well all week and posted results of 4th and 5th in the two Super G's, slightly lowering his points profile. Today was the only downhill training run for the week (due to the lost day) and Scott was 1st by .82 seconds, so things are running well. Video revealed a couple of things he could tighten up for the two downhills this weekend.

This has been a great week overall. Not only is Mammoth one of our favorite mountains to cruise when not on the race course, but Scott's brother Jonathan flew out to join us. We've had a great time skiing together and visiting in the evenings.

Everything is training...

2010-01-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

... and training is everything. An old Army slogan we used in the infantry. The most menial of duties has training value if done professionally, and in the end the lesson learned may save a life.

As we were circumventing Salt Lake City before sunrise enroute to a race, it occured to me that I was sure Scott had everything needed to perform his best. He was snoozing, but I felt no need to wake him and double check. Forgetting something can be disasterous, and those unfamiliar with ski racing don't understand all the various pieces of essential equipment: two sets of skis, the correct ski poles, boots and socks, spare poles, shin guards, the correct helmet, spare goggles and lenses, layers of clothes, arm guards, water, snacks., etc. That's alot of stuff to remember at 5AM.

When Scott was small (age 6) he started making his "ski man." He would take everything he was to wear in the morning, and array it on the floor beside his bed in the reverse order of dressing, Everything right down to underwear, and socks stuck out of the ski suit legs. It was a cute family joke. But looking back it was training. The "ski man" departed a few years ago, but now, when the little things can unravel an important day, Scott's personal equipment is one item we never have to worry about.

Everything is training -- Training is everything.

Ouch!

2010-01-10T16:31:00.000-08:00

In every way... I pulled Scott's stitches two days ago, and last night he fell while ice skating and ate his own knee. We didn't get more stitches -- I just steri-stripped him.

We wrapped up the first Western Region Elite FIS series of the season today. The first two days were Slalom at Snowbird. They'd pumped 80,000 gallons of water into the hill and it was slick. Assembled were the top FIS athletes from the West. plus six NCAA Division I teams -- about 130 athletes. The first day the surface took it's toll, knocking out 60% of the field, including Scott (He hiked back into the course each run). The second day Scott skied better and he was 2nd place J2 with a few glaring errors. The day ended on a good note as he felt he'd mastered the ice the second run. In this sport, one must seize the small victories, for if you don't celebrate them the sport will kill you.

The following two days were Giant Slalom at Park City. Scott had an erratic first run yesterday but did OK. He flew the second run, finishing 33rd overall and 1st for J2s. Today Scott was ready to rock. He hammered the first run, finishing 19th overall and postured for a huge scoring day. He skied the hardest part of the second run perfectly, then he "booted out" and skidded off course. After a long hike up the hill he reentered and finished a crowd pleasing 52d, 7th amongst J2's. Oh well...

I must say, today's second run blow out is the single most disappointing run in Scott's career. We both could taste a big result. This was the perfect time for a big result. He was skiing fast and loose. Then BOOM, it was over. It took us a couple of hours to get over it.

So tomorrow's another day. We head to Jackson, WY for two days of training, then up to Big Sky, MT to do battle with the NCAA guys again at the FISU races. Should be fun, especially since Joy and Bonnie will join us there.

Be careful...

2010-01-09T07:04:00.001-08:00

Words I've never said to any of my ski racers. Words I've never said to Scott at any time in his life. Being careful isn't part of the formula for great racers. Great racers certainly get scared at times, but they convert that fear into sonething else -- intensity, anger, determination. They never compensate for fear and become cautious. In a game of hundredths (at this year's Birds of Prey downhill, the top three finishers were within .004 of a second) there's no room for caution or self doubt.

Earlier this week Scott and I went to Snow King, WY to tune-up four days before a big race series. The first day we were free skiing and Scott dropped down off a cat track, swooped back up, and did a 360 degree spin. Fine. On the next chair lift up he said, "I'm going to do a 720 next run." Now I've been around the block, watched some 720's and sort of understand the deal. This junp had an uphill landing and not enough speed. I've also learned that in life its the dumb stuff that gets ya. So I said, "Are you sure that's what you want to do just before a train-up. Scott's reply was, "Dad, if I can't do this, I might as well quit skiing. Skiing is about freedom." I immediately backed off, sorry that I almost said "Be careful."

Scott stuck a perfect 680 and came down hard. He shook himself up and had a stiff neck for several days, but never complained. Neither one of us never brought the subject up again. So that afternoon Scott wanted to test his new hockey stick, so I dropped him off at the Jackson Fairgrounds outdoor rink. Three hours later I got a call, "Dad, better come get me," He'd entered a pick-up hockey game and now needed seven stitches on his chin. Everything is good. He's proud of his scar, and he's not going to be any more careful in the future.

Deja vu all over again...

2010-01-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

We relocated to Park City today after a morning of slalom training at Snow King, WY (and a broken ski). We swung by the Atomic warehouse on Ogden enroute and they hooked Scott up with a new set of slalom skis. They'll have to be worked up, so for this week he'll use them as trainers.

We checked into the Park City Resort, a slopeside condo belonging to our dear friends Bob and Sue Rieve. What a great place with room for 10 people, all of the ammenities, underground parking, swimming pool, gym, and slopeside access. We can actually see the GS finish line from the living room! The Rieves made this place available to our team many times in the past for NASTAR Nationals. In fact, a team photo still graces the bedside table.

So I got nostalgic... I think Scott did too. He started retelling storeies of his escapdes with his team mates, etc. We have so many great memories from when the kids were young and coaching consisted of keeping them warm and moving.

Tonight, after schoolwork and ski tuning, Scott went ice skating in the rink (unstaffed after 7PM) in the courtyord in front of the building. He skated until 10:30PM and is now headed to bed. He trains on the race venue at 9AM, so I better head that way too.

Ramping up

2010-01-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

It was great to be home for the holidays. We had eight days in Sandpoint with no on-snow training. Scott free skied all week with his sister and their friends, ice skated a bunch, and generally relaxed. The only exception was daily strength training, plus three days of physical therapy with his trainer.
But vacation is over. Today we drove through a storm to Jackson, WY to begin preparation for another competition window. Scott has seven tech (Slalom and Giant Slalom) races in the next nineteen days. We're going to train here with the Jackson Hole Ski Team for three days, then relocate to Park City to train with their team on the race venue. The idea is to gradually get his timing sharp and readjust to the harder snow.
We've adjusted the schedule and eliminated several more races to increase the recovery and training windows throughout the season. He still has 50 starts, but the schedule flows better. The idea is to still be fresh and hungry by the end of the season.

One more for the road...

2009-12-21T20:04:00.000-08:00

We've been on the road 10 of 12 weeks and are down to one race before heading home. Although neither of us can wait to get back with Mom and Bonnie, Scott is holding up well. His energy is high and his focus is excellent. Glad we didn't do the Panorama NORAMS.

Scott scored in the second Giant Slalom yesterday, despite two major errors in the second run. He finished 16th of 131 and third for his age group.

Today we switched to Slalom. The snow was good and hard and the two course sets were as different as could be. Scott made the adjustments well and scored his best Slalom result to date, a FIS 43. He was 18th overall and second in his age group. A Slovakian boy who is amongst the top 16 year olds in the world for slalom edged him out by .10. Tomorrow's another day!

Mistakes

2009-12-19T18:52:00.000-08:00

"Everybody makes mistakes. It's not so much the mistake as where it happens." Bode Miller, 2006

Scott raced the first of two FIS Giant Slalom races at Nakiska today. He started 30th and was 21st after the first run with a mistake just before the flat section. It was painful to watch him creep along to the next pitch -- tick tock. The same mistake on a different section of the course, and he might have been a second faster. The second run went much better. Scott had the third fastest run on the day and climbed to 15th place (1st for his age group) scoring a 49 point result. I was very pleased how he took the lessons from the first run and put them into effect the second run.

The track held up very well today and their's no measurable snow in the forecast. Temperatures are dropping and we should have perfect conditions for the second race tomorrow.

Tanned, rested and ready...

2009-12-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

I couldn't have written a better scenario. The decision to pull out of the NORAM at Panorama, BC was tough. Glad we stuck with it. Since then we had three days at Jackson, WY where Scott raced slalom two days and trained giant slalom one day. He also ice skated two of the days. Nice and relaxing; he's totally caught--up on school! We left Jackson a day early and drove to Bozeman, MT to visit Bonnie. The kids skated, we all hung out... more relaxation. We then completed the trip to Nakiska, Alberta where he will race for four days.

This morning we hit the slopes early in hopes of finding a race course. The home team was training Giant Slalom so we joined them for four quality training runs on a full length course. We got "home" early, finished school and skis, and even had time for a movie. I'm hoping this psychological and physical R&R has Scott ready for tomorrow. It sure looks like it.

Take a hike!

2009-12-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Since "hiking" has been Scott's favorite activity this weekend, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the matter. First, the daily report... Scott had another blazing run today, except for a 5 second hike to get back into the course. Neither of us is particularly concerned at this point, as this race series was to be prep for Canada. Once again Scott attacked hard on the fast line. However, the fast line leaves little margin for error and he paid big. That's OK though, as he knows what he did and he's gradually getting the touch and timing back.

Now let's discuss hiking. When a racer misses a gate, or flies out of the race course, in a tech (Slalom or Giant Slalom) event, he has the option of pulling off to the side of the course and quiting, or climbing back up to retake the missed gate and continuing on course. In competition most racers don't bother hiking, especially in the second run of the race. However, Scott is not like most guys.

Our team rule is that athletes "hike" whenever they miss a gate, whether in training or competition -- whether in Slalom or Giant Slalom. My philosophy is that not doing so fosters a defeatist attitude. It creates athletes who bail out whenever the going gets tough. If an athlete knows that he/she will have to hike if a gate is missed, the athlete will try to save the turn, get creative, make the gate. ANYTHING to avoid a high stress, anaerobic, uphill hike! I can't tell you how many times I've watched Scott save a turn. Often those runs have been the winning runs in a race.

When we were at the Topolino Shootout three years ago, where the top 20 boys competed for one spot on the Children's World Championship team, Scott made an interesting comment during the practice day. As we rode the chairlift he watched athlete after athlete abandon the course when they got a little off-line or late. Finally he said, "These guys are going to lose, they're all quitters." Scott won 5 of the 6 races the next two days. None of his runs was letter perfect, but he knew how to hang on.

One of the best moments in our sport was during the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City. Bode Miller had already medaled twice and become an American icon. In his final event, Slalom, he entered the second run leading the field. True to his nature he never let off the throttle, pushing the limits of his ability. He missed a gate, and hiked back up even though he had no chance of placing. He reentered the course and missed another gate. He hiked again. Bode hiked three times that run, but finished. I will always admire him for that day -- better than any medal!

High Intensity Training

2009-12-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

We're at Snow King in Jackson, WY now for two FIS slalom races and a few days of tech training before heading back to Canada. Scott was "in" the NORAM tech races at Panorama, BC this week, but we decided it was best to withdraw and get fully prepared for next week's tech races at Nakiska, Alberta. A lot of folks think we're nuts for pulling out of a NORAM opportunity, but I'm trying to manage the mental and physical stress of competition. It's a long season and Scott needs to be functioning at a high level in March when all the Championships come around.

Jackson is one of our favorite places. We stay in the same hotel every time, know all the local restaurants, like the ski team staff, and of course... they have a hockey rink for Scott! Coming here is good for us. The FIS slalom series this weekend offers Scott some realistic, race-day, preparations without a lot of stress before we head back to Canada.

Scott skied extremely fast today on both runs. I mean really fast. Unfortunately, each run included a departure from the course and the ensuing hike to get back in. Needless to say, he didn't score. Today was Scott's first time on slalom skis since Nov 17th, and he skied very well (despite the blow-outs). He showed he has the tools to win big tomorrow, so we'll go from there. No matter what the outcome, this has been the perfect chance for him to "tune-up."

Score!!!

2009-12-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

Scott (the only one in a non National Team coat -- far right) finally nailed the "Fall Away" turn on the hill and posted a huge finish yesterday at the Lake Louise NORAM Super G. Starting with bib #60, he finished 22nd overall, 5th for all Juniors (19 and under) and 1st for his age group. He earned a 38 point FIS result (good enough to move him to #2 in the world for Super G in his age group) and garnered his first NORAM points. That's a mouthful, so let's sum it up as a happy day for Scott.
After the race the coaches and athletes had to take down 900 "B" nets, roll them, and move to the bottom of the mountain... two hours of hard work. Everyone carried their load, including international athletes and their coaches. Nice to see. Scott and I finally hit the road around 5:30PM headed to Jackson Hole, WY. It was a long drive through VERY rural Alberta and Montana. We encountered three herds of horses on the road (close call) and didn't find a hotel until 12:30AM. We arose at 7AM to resume the trip and made it over the pass into Jackson at 4PM in the midst of a snowstorm. I attended the 5PM Team Captain's meeting and waxed skis, while Scott did schoolwork left over from yesterday. We're now headed to bed. Tomorrow starts with a 7AM chairlift to set courses. Scott races slalom tomorrow and Monday.

Good wine...

2009-12-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

"Downhill racers are like good wine; they have to age to reach their prime." Cory Murdock, ex US Ski Team downhiller and pro skier. So we're learning... Scott is skiing well, but his unfamiliarity with this track is showing when competing against an older field who has raced here many times before. He just finished his second NORAM level downhill today. We switch to Super G tomorrow.

This has been a great learning experience for Scott. He is getting to run the World Cup track from the men's start, a two minute race and a real thigh burner. He also is learning just how important timing and the affects of micro-terrain can be to outcomes. Each day he's run here (four) he's fixed one problem and found a new one. There's still one critical turn he has yet to master. Notwithstanding, he posted very respectable results of 36th and 37th overall in the two races. He handily topped his age division every day and beat a number of US Ski Team members. Although disappointed that he didn't improve his FIS points, Scott is pleased with the outcome relative to the field and the challenging hill.

Tomorrow will be one of those long days to which ski racers become accustomed. We get up early and finish packing the car, check out of our rooms, follow a similar race schedule extending from 7AM to 3PM, then we go back up the hill to help take down all of the protective netting on the 2 miles course for about three hours. After that we'll hop in the car and try to knock off six hours of the trip to Jackson Hole, WY, where Scott has a slalom race on Sunday.

So, having reread the preceding paragraph, I'm heading to bed!